Sao Paulo Thursday Notebook

***As per the opening three rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship, a total of 37 cars are set to line up on the grid for this weekend’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, including 19 in the Hypercar class.

***The Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Interlagos is hosting only its fourth WEC event, and its first in ten years this weekend, although it did feature on the 2019-20 calendar before being dropped in favor of the Circuit of The Americas.

***Only 13 drivers on this year’s grid were present for the previous running of the 6H Sao Paulo in 2014: Sebastien Buemi, Mike Conway, Brendon Hartley, Frederic Makowiecki, James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Loic Duval, Matthieu Vaxiviere, Neel Jani, Davide Rigon, Klaus Bachler, Richard Lietz and this year’s last-minute stand-in Christian Ried.

***Additionally, Kamui Kobayashi and Jean-Karl Vernay both contested the 2013 edition and Nicolas Lapierre was present for the first running in 2012, winning the race overall alongside Alexander Wurz in a Toyota TS030 Hybrid.

***Toyota driver Buemi believes that past experience of the Interlagos layout will help in terms of getting up to speed in practice, even if it was from a decade ago. “Knowing the track is always an advantage, regardless of when was the last time you drove the track. In Free Practice 1, you know where you are going and it’s a bit easier.”

***He added: “At Imola, weirdly, I had never been there except for a shakedown with Toro Rosso [in Formula 1]. I never raced there. Even though we did the sim, the first session was hard. So just knowing the track helps somehow.”

***Toyota and Porsche both picked up their respective first WEC wins at Sao Paulo in 2012 and 2014. Audi won the remaining race in 2013.

***The WEC is celebrating its 90th race this weekend in Brazil. Interestingly, Toyota driver Hartley has won four of the eight ‘milestone’ races, having triumphed in the series’ 30th, 40th, 60th and 80th races.

***Only two home drivers will be on the grid this weekend, both in the LMGT3 class: Augusto Farfus (No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3) and Nicolas Costa (No. 59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo). Farfus last raced at Interlagos in a Stock Car Brasil race in 2022, while Costa raced there as recently as April of this year in a TCR Brasil event.

***At around 785 meters (2,575 feet) above sea level, Interlagos is the venue with the highest altitude visited by the WEC, with Fuji Speedway the next-highest at 557 m (1827 ft).

***Kobayashi is hoping that Toyota’s past experience at the South American venue could give it an edge over its Hypercar rivals. “It’s a new track for many people and many teams, but we have more experience than anyone,” he told Sportscar365. “I think the car should suit the track well, but we need to score as many points in the championship as we can. We are still in the game, but Porsche and Ferrari will be strong.”

***Toyota reserve driver Ritomo Miyata is not on site for this weekend’s race, the team’s technical director David Floury confirmed. Floury said it was deemed Miyata was not needed on-site because, in the event Mike Conway is unable to drive, the No. 7 Toyota would continue as a two-driver crew.

***The No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 is the same ‘loaner’ chassis from Porsche that was used in the rebuild of the car following Callum Ilott’s accident in the build-up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Team co-owner Sam Hignett told Sportscar365: “It’s a loaner but the reality is that it’s so difficult to do a chassis change during flyaway [races] with these things.”

***Hignett confirmed that the car, owned by a privateer collector linked to the team, is expected to be eventually re-fitted with the original, set-to-be-repaired chassis, and will be back out in the “future” depending on timing and how long the German manufacturer lets them run the loaner.

***Cadillac’s Earl Bamber feels that the No. 2 car’s two-driver lineup, comprising the Kiwi and Alex Lynn, will be advantageous. “How everyone’s cars will go, I don’t think anyone has a solid idea,” said Bamber. “It really is a blank slate, and I think with our two-driver strategy it will be to our benefit with the limited practice and everyone having to learn the track.”

***Several luminaries from the world of Brazilian racing were spotted in the Interlagos paddock on Thursday, including Formula 1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, his nephew Christian, Rubens Barrichello and Nelson Piquet Jr.

***A request by Goodyear for the regular tire allocation to be increased “due to the fact that Interlagos is a new track in the championship for LMGT3, and resulting uncertainties regarding wear and performance degradation”, was accepted. LMGT3 teams therefore have access to 22 tires for qualifying and the race, instead of the usual 18.

***Goodyear announced in the run-up to the 6H Sao Paulo that Manthey EMA Porsche driver Morris Schuring took its Wingfoot Award for the fastest LMGT3 double stint in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Reshad de Gerus won the same award for the LMP2 class driving for IDEC Sport.

***A number of teams had travel dramas en route to Sao Paulo, including members of the Peugeot squad, which were stranded in London for a day due to a flight cancelation, while several Ferrari personnel, plus BMW M Team WRT’s Raffaele Marciello, were on a plane that had to make an emergency landing back in Milan after suffering a tailstrike at takeoff.

***Anthony Davidson is understood not to have made the trip to Brazil due to illness, and as such won’t be able to take up his usual commentary position on the official WEC broadcast alongside Graham Goodwin and Martin Haven.

***Paulo Pinheiro, the CEO of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, passed away suddenly earlier this week after a brief illness at the age of 52. Pinheiro was the driving force behind the construction of the circuit near Portimao in Portugal.

***Track action begins on Friday with Free Practice 1 at 10.45 a.m. local time (9.45 a.m. EDT), with Free Practice 2 set to follow at 3.15 p.m. local time (2.15 p.m. EDT).

John Dagys contributed to this report