Porsche’s Andlauer Leads Opening Hour in Sao Paulo

Photo: Porsche

Julien Andlauer led the opening hour of the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, giving the early edge to Porsche Penske Motorsport.

The Frenchman, who started the No. 5 Porsche 963 on the front row, got around the pole-sitting No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R of Will Stevens on the opening lap.

Andlauer bridged out a narrow lead over Stevens until the No. 12 Cadillac was handed a drive-through penalty for a tire pressure-related technical infringement, which initially dropped it to fourth prior to an early first full-service stop.

It promoted the sister No. 38 Cadillac of Earl Bamber to second, with Loic Duval’s No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 in third and the sister Peugeot of Mikkel Jensen in fourth.

The No. 6 Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor ran fifth, ahead of the No. 20 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Rene Rast, who completed the top-six at the one-hour mark.

Early trouble hit the sister No. 15 BMW of Kevin Magnussen, who pitted on the sixth lap with a reported brake issue. Magnussen lost nearly 20 laps in the garage undergoing repairs.

The No. 35 Alpine A424 of Ferdinand Habsburg, meanwhile, appeared to be the race’s first retirement after a suspected hybrid-related issue forced the Austrian into the pits on Lap 27.

LMGT3 was led by the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 of Petru Umbrarescu, who passed the class pole-sitting No. 10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Anthony McIntosh at the 20-minute mark.

A slow first pit stop for McIntosh saw the No. 10 Aston drop down the running order, which promoted the No. 78 Lexus of Finn Gehrsitz to second, ahead of the No. 59 Untied Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of James Cottingham in third.

Several LMGT3 cars received five-second time penalties for start procedure infractions, including the No. 46 WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO, No. 81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R and No. 88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3.

The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P of James Calado also received the same penalty while the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette of Ben Keating was handed a ten-second penalty after contact with the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Ian James, which spun in Turn 12.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John