Sao Paulo Thursday Notebook

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI

***Less than four weeks after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the FIA World Endurance Championship returns to action with the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, which, like the previous regular season races, features a 36-car entry list but with considerable driver lineup changes due to clashing events with the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this weekend.

***Sebastien Buemi (No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid), Robin Frijns (No. 20 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8), Jean-Eric Vergne (No. 93 Peugeot 9X8) and Stoffel Vandoorne (No. 94 Peugeot) are all at the Berlin E-Prix this weekend, with only Frijns having been replaced, with Marco Wittmann joining Sheldon van der Linde and Rene Rast in the No. 20 BMW.

***It will mark the first WEC race that Buemi has missed since Shanghai 2012, before he became a full-time Toyota Gazoo Racing driver. The Swiss ace has racked up 90 starts, the most by any driver. Manthey’s Richard Lietz, meanwhile, will become tied with Christian Ried at 89 starts this weekend to have the joint second-most starts in the globe-trotting series.

***Seven Hypercar entries are utilizing two-driver lineups, the most in championship history, including both Peugeots, the pair of Penske Porsche 963s, the two Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Valkyries as well as the No. 8 Toyota. Toyota’s last outing with a two-driver lineup came at Spa 2017 when Jose Maria Lopez was recovering from back injuries from his accident at Silverstone.

***Porsche Penske has defending IMSA GTP champion Felipe Nasr on-site as a reserve driver, while Theo Pourchaire is in a similar role with Peugeot. Toyota, meanwhile, has Jose Maria Lopez as its reserve, although the Argentinean is racing for Akkodis ASP in the LMGT3 ranks.

***Among the changes in the LMGT3 class includes American Anthony McIntosh, who is set for his WEC debut in the No. 10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, Pedro Ebrahim in for Timur Boguslavskiy aboard the No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO and the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 of Yuichi Nakayama, who is subbing for Ben Barnicoat, who is on WeatherTech Championship duty at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

***Sportscar365 understands that Derek DeBoer will be back in the No. 10 Aston Martin for the next round at Circuit of The Americas, although McIntosh expressed interest in contesting the two final races of the season at Fuji Speedway and Bahrain.

***The No. 60 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, meanwhile, maintains its 24 Hours of Le Mans lineup of Andrew Gilbert, Lorcan Hanafin and Fran Rueda, which is set for the remainder of the season.

***Both of the Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG chassis are the same from the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in May, as all three cars that were utilized at Le Mans, painted up as tributes to the 1989 Le Mans-winning Sauber-Mercedes C9, have been retired from competition. By contrast, the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P is the same chassis that won last month’s French endurance classic.

***Porsche Penske Motorsport managing director Jonathan Diuguid, who has been recently promoted to Penske Racing President, is not on-site this weekend due to not being able to fly because of an ear infection, although Porsche Penske competition director Travis Law, who also received a recent promotion to an over-arching role that now also includes the NTT IndyCar Series, is here this weekend instead of the Iowa IndyCar round.

***Sportscar365 understands there are no plans to replace either Diuguid or Law at Porsche Penske for the remainder of this year, despite multiple clashing weekends with IndyCar and/or WEC and the WeatherTech Championship.

***Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, has been fully resurfaced and had further asphalt patching since last year’s edition of the race, which had then marked WEC’s return to the 2.677-mile circuit for the first time since 2014.

***Michelin endurance program manager Pierre Alves said: “After the complete resurfacing of the circuit, we have to restart our analysis almost from zero. During free practice and qualifying, we will analyze every lap of every car to properly understand how our tires interact with this new asphalt. This will allow us to optimize strategies and best support our partners.”

***Hypercar teams have been allocated Michelin’s Medium and Hard tire compounds this weekend, while LMGT3 teams will debut Goodyear’s new Hard tire, which will also be in use for the Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas and season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain.

***Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury believes their advantage in having run the entire race on Michelin’s Medium compound last year, en route to victory, has been erased with the resurfacing.

***Floury said: “Obviously we didn’t test here. We just did the track walk earlier this afternoon so we still need to analyze. We did some measurements and we still need to analyze to have a clear picture on the tire. There is a clear risk that the picture is different than last year. We will not be able to have such a strong advantage as last year.”

***He also referred to a revised Balance of Performance table, which could impact Toyota’s race. “We also expect in terms of raceability it will be very difficult because we have low power, high weight,” said Floury. “Exiting the slow speed corner, we will have a lot of difficulties to keep up with most of the other cars. But the Ferrari is more or less on the same working point.”

***Floury predicts that both Cadillac and Porsche will be “very strong” this weekend, along with Peugeot, which “on paper” should also benefit from the resurfacing.

***Both the road-based and GT3 version of Toyota/Lexus’ yet-to-be-announced sports car took part in the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Thursday, with Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe vice-chairman Kazuki Nakajima and Daisuke Toyoda, the son of Toyota Motor Corporation chairman Akio Toyoda, behind the wheel of the cars, respectively. The race car, rumored to be branded as the Lexus LFR GT3, is expected to replace the Lexus RC F GT3 in both the WEC and WeatherTech Championship beginning next year.

***Toyota’s Floury, meanwhile, confirmed that Nakajima is currently en route to Sao Paulo for his duties this weekend.

***A Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R is also at Goodwood with Wayne Taylor Racing driver Ricky Taylor at the wheel, while Heart of Racing is represented as well with an Aston Martin Valkyrie for Ross Gunn.

***Cadillac Racing program manager Keely Bosn, propulsion manager Sean O’Shea and Will Stevens on Wednesday were guests at General Motors’ Sao Caetano do Sul plant during which they toured the expansive facility that produces the Chevrolet Tracker SUV, Montana pickup truck and Spin minivan.

***Action Express Racing raised more than $11,500 USD through an online auction between the Le Mans and Watkins Glen races for Team Fox, the fundraising arm of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s disease research.

***Tim Mayer, who recently announced his candidacy for FIA President, will be in the WEC paddock this weekend. Mayer, an accomplished motorsports official and executive, who most recently served as a Formula 1 steward, announced his candidacy during last weekend’s F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

***WEC track action kicks off on Friday with Free Practice 1 at 11 a.m. local time (10 a.m. EST), followed by FP2 at 3:45 p.m.

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