McIntosh ‘Felt All of Brazil Looking at Him’ in Qualifying

Anthony McIntosh said he felt ‘the entire country looking at him’ as he narrowly put the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo into Hyperpole, after which Eduardo Barrichello delivered LMGT3 pole for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo on home soil.

Barrichello took pole position on home soil during Saturday’s qualifying session, which was the first FIA World Endurance Championship pole for Racing Spirit of Leman.

The Brazilian, who lives locally in Sao Paulo, was able to take part in Hyperpole thanks to the earlier efforts of Bronze-rated McIntosh, who was the last driver to advance courtesy of tenth place in the first stage of qualifying.

The American, who is making his WEC debut this weekend, outpaced Thomas Flohr’s No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 by a mere 0.026 seconds.

McIntosh admitted afterwards that he was surprised by the strong pace displayed by his fellow Bronzes in qualifying, also noting that he felt pressure to make sure home hero Barrichello was able to participate in Hyperpole.

“Usually if I’m qualifying with a bunch of silvers, I’m normally in the middle of the pack,” said McIntosh. “So I thought coming here against these Bronzes, I just was pretty chill. Wow, these guys, it was tough. It was close.

“My engineer came on the radio and said ‘you’re seventh.’ And I was like ‘Seriously? This is the lap time you gave me.’

“He said ‘No, you’re seventh. You need two more tenths.’ Then later he came on the radio and he said, ‘Okay, now you’re tenth.’

“And I just remembered when they brought me in and said, ‘You have one job and that is to get Eduardo into Hyperpole. That’s your only job.’

“So I thought, ‘Okay, alright. So I have this entire country looking at me.’ This is the one job, the only thing I have to do. So I was sweating in the car.

“You get one lap, right? And I put the car in at the time that they, around the time that they asked for it.

“So I sent it into Turns 1 and 2 and it just had a nasty tank slapper. And I got back on the radio like, ‘Aborting lap, there is not another lap in this thing.

“It was closer than it should have been.'”

Barrichello “Going Day by Day” at “Crazy” Home Race

Barrichello, for his part, explained that he is not yet focused on Sunday’s six-hour race, taking a “day by day” approach through what as been a “crazy” event on home soil.

The Brazilian told Sportscar365 that the pole position made for “such a special day,” adding that “we’ll see how tomorrow goes.”

“I think we have to go day by day,” Barrichello said. “It’s such a special day today so I have to enjoy it really. It was such a good lap, the car was so good as well so I’m super excited and pumped.

“Getting out of the car and looking at the crowd they look pretty happy as well, so I’m pretty satisfied.

“I just have to enjoy it today and we’ll see how tomorrow goes.”

Barrichello admitted that the large amount of support from the home crowd “can be overwhelming at times,” adding that it is a positive thing that the championship has received a large amount of attention.

“It’s been crazy,” he said. “Not only here at the track, but also on social media. Everybody just seems to be watching WEC and it feels super cool.

“It can be overwhelming at times, but I’m just super happy to have good people around me and get it done. I have my friends to keep me grounded, I have my mom to keep me grounded.

“After this pole position I just go back home and I’m just a normal son to my mom, so that’s pretty good.

“I think we can enjoy it, but at the end of the day we’re all normal people.”