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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: Sao Paulo WEC Notebook
News and notes on the eve of the FIA WEC Six Hours of Sao Paulo...
Starworks Motorsport qualified on the LMP2 pole for Saturday's Six Hours of Sao Paulo. (Photo: John Dagys)
2013 SCHEDULE UPDATE — While there was hope of it being announced this weekend in Sao Paulo, we’ll have to wait another two weeks before the 2013 FIA WEC calendar is released.
SPEED.com has learned the schedule will now be ratified and announced by the FIA at the next World Motor Sport Council meeting on September 28. Coincidentally the meeting falls in the middle of the Six Hours of Bahrain weekend.
HISTORIC INTERLAGOS — While many world-class circuits around the world have become diluted and homogenized over the years, Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, hasn’t lost its luster and remains a favorite among drivers, teams and fans.
Home of the F1 Brazilian Grand Prix, a number of drivers in the FIA WEC paddock have driven the famed 15-turn, 2.676-mile circuit in the past, including Audi’s Allan McNish and David Brabham from JRM, who took part in the 1994 running, in what turned out to be Ayrton Senna’s final F1 race on home soil.
"When I was here in F1, it was our first race in the Simtek," Brabham explained. "Obviously Senna was still racing, it was actually the last time he was competing here. It was an amazing experience; just the Brazilian crowd and how crazy they were. Those things just stay with you forever."
McNish, meanwhile, also has fond memories of Interlagos, having taken part in the 2002 F1 race with Toyota. The rapid Scot also served as the Japanese manufacturer’s Friday test driver in 2003.
“I really enjoy Brazil, it is a fantastically alive place to be, especially in racing,” he said. “The track itself unusually runs in an anti-clockwise direction, is pretty difficult and is quite technical. It’s an old style, undulating circuit featuring some very fast sections but there is also a fiddly little infield.”
Brabham added: "It's a tough track and pretty demanding from a driver's point of view There are long left-hand corners, which we normally go right-hand. Our left sides of our necks are going to be pretty sore by the end of the weekend.”
MINASSIAN IN AT PECOM — One of the more significant driver shakeups this weekend has been at Pecom Racing, which sees Nic Minassian take the place of Soheil Ayari for the remainder of the FIA WEC season. It marks the fourth different prototype team the ex-Peugeot ace has driven this year (Sebastien Loeb Racing, Pescarolo Team, Team Jota).
“I took a call from Amato [Ferrari] last Thursday,” Minassian told dailysportscar.com. “It was a very straightforward and honest conversation and I have spoken to Soheil since then. He’s a good friend and he said to me that if it hadn’t been me it would have been someone else. I’m pleased to have these four races for the end of this year and I’m talking to a number of teams about 2013.”
KROHN PULLING DOUBLE DUTY — In order to gain more experience of the Interlagos circuit ahead of tomorrow’s FIA WEC race, Tracy Krohn has been pulling double duty this weekend, competing in the Porsche GT3 Challenge Brasil at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
"It's just great practice and nice to come to this beautiful track and have the opportunity to run a few extra laps," Krohn said. "For me, that really helps. Being able to get the extra laps helps me because I'm obviously not in the car as much as the guys who do this every day for a living."
While suffering an accident in the GT3 Challenge qualifying session, the car is expected to be repaired in time for tomorrow morning's 35-minute sprint race. Krohn will then hop aboard his Ferrari F458 Italia for the FIA WEC race as he and co-drivers Nic Jonsson and Michele Rugolo pursue their first class victory of the season.
PHOTOS: FIA WEC Six Hours of Sao Paulo
SPEED.com has learned the schedule will now be ratified and announced by the FIA at the next World Motor Sport Council meeting on September 28. Coincidentally the meeting falls in the middle of the Six Hours of Bahrain weekend.
HISTORIC INTERLAGOS — While many world-class circuits around the world have become diluted and homogenized over the years, Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, hasn’t lost its luster and remains a favorite among drivers, teams and fans.
Home of the F1 Brazilian Grand Prix, a number of drivers in the FIA WEC paddock have driven the famed 15-turn, 2.676-mile circuit in the past, including Audi’s Allan McNish and David Brabham from JRM, who took part in the 1994 running, in what turned out to be Ayrton Senna’s final F1 race on home soil.
"When I was here in F1, it was our first race in the Simtek," Brabham explained. "Obviously Senna was still racing, it was actually the last time he was competing here. It was an amazing experience; just the Brazilian crowd and how crazy they were. Those things just stay with you forever."
McNish, meanwhile, also has fond memories of Interlagos, having taken part in the 2002 F1 race with Toyota. The rapid Scot also served as the Japanese manufacturer’s Friday test driver in 2003.
“I really enjoy Brazil, it is a fantastically alive place to be, especially in racing,” he said. “The track itself unusually runs in an anti-clockwise direction, is pretty difficult and is quite technical. It’s an old style, undulating circuit featuring some very fast sections but there is also a fiddly little infield.”
Brabham added: "It's a tough track and pretty demanding from a driver's point of view There are long left-hand corners, which we normally go right-hand. Our left sides of our necks are going to be pretty sore by the end of the weekend.”
MINASSIAN IN AT PECOM — One of the more significant driver shakeups this weekend has been at Pecom Racing, which sees Nic Minassian take the place of Soheil Ayari for the remainder of the FIA WEC season. It marks the fourth different prototype team the ex-Peugeot ace has driven this year (Sebastien Loeb Racing, Pescarolo Team, Team Jota).
“I took a call from Amato [Ferrari] last Thursday,” Minassian told dailysportscar.com. “It was a very straightforward and honest conversation and I have spoken to Soheil since then. He’s a good friend and he said to me that if it hadn’t been me it would have been someone else. I’m pleased to have these four races for the end of this year and I’m talking to a number of teams about 2013.”
KROHN PULLING DOUBLE DUTY — In order to gain more experience of the Interlagos circuit ahead of tomorrow’s FIA WEC race, Tracy Krohn has been pulling double duty this weekend, competing in the Porsche GT3 Challenge Brasil at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
"It's just great practice and nice to come to this beautiful track and have the opportunity to run a few extra laps," Krohn said. "For me, that really helps. Being able to get the extra laps helps me because I'm obviously not in the car as much as the guys who do this every day for a living."
While suffering an accident in the GT3 Challenge qualifying session, the car is expected to be repaired in time for tomorrow morning's 35-minute sprint race. Krohn will then hop aboard his Ferrari F458 Italia for the FIA WEC race as he and co-drivers Nic Jonsson and Michele Rugolo pursue their first class victory of the season.
PHOTOS: FIA WEC Six Hours of Sao Paulo
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