Written by Owen Bradley
Sebastien Buemi brought the Toyota #8 home to take Hypercar victory at Interlagos in Brazil, as Klaus Bachler brought Manthey Pure Rxcing's #92 Porsche to LMGT3 glory, with Mick Schumacher scoring points for the #36 Alpine.
A clean getaway for both the Hypercar and LMGT3 fields led to wonderful racing early on, the Interlagos circuit flowing and providing a lot of incredible overtaking opportunities throughout the circuit. The Toyota's would lead a 1-2 with the #7 and #8 cars, as the #36 Alpine of Mick Schumacher found incredible pace, coming through from 11th on the grid and fighting for the Top 5 places.
In the LMGT3 field, the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini would lead the way, with the #92 Manthey racing Porsche right on the tail of the Dames. Elsewhere, Ahmad Al-Harthy drove the #46 BMW and gained multiple positions in the opening 10 minutes, dragging the #46 BMW up to 9th after starting from outside the Top 10.
In the early laps, the #35 Alpine would be caught off guard by Schumacher's #36 Alpine on the inside at Turn 1, running wide and spinning due to the low grip. As the race began settling into a groove, the #7 Toyota would be struck with a huge drive-through penalty after just 90 minutes into the six-hour race, the #7 Toyota squad forced to perform a recovery drive.
There would be a lot of contact among the Hypercars in the midfield, as tyre grip began falling away from the Hypercars, who seemed to particularly struggle in the slow speed middle sector.
A few cars would pick up fines for Full Course Yellow breaches, and the #51 Ferrari would be given a Drive-Through penalty, delaying their comeback drive after a relatively poor qualifying result. There would be minor contact and debris flying off some Hypercars, the circuit allowing for door-to-door action and occasionally spilling over into contact.
The Ferrari #50 and one of the Jota Porsches would make contact on the run into Turn 4, with the Porsche having a front-left puncture, nursing itself back to the pit lane. Elsewhere, after a difficult battle between the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini and the #92 Manthey Porsche, the Iron Dames would come into the pits, where there was smoke pouring from the car and liquids leaking out onto the floor.
The Iron Dames would be forced to retire from the lead of the race, continuing their difficult season and being struck with bad luck once again.
Schumacher #36 Alpine would battle against the #83 Ferrari of Robert Kubica, the Ferrari losing a lot of grip as the Alpine of Schumacher continued to hold impressive pace.
As Maxime Martin climbed aboard the #46 BMW LMGT3, the #46 BMW climbed inside the Top 5 positions and continued their comeback drive and hope for the podium. They would duel against the #27 Aston Martin and the #55 Ferrari behind, as the #92 Manthey Porsche extended a huge lead, putting most of the LMGT3 field a lap down.
The #82 Corvette would come to a stop at the entry to Turn 6, bringing out the Full Course Yellow as Jenson Button climbed aboard the #38 Jota Porsche, and challenged for the podium in Hypercar.
Towards the end of the race, the Toyota #8 would extend a huge lead, as the #12 Jota Porsche would run wide into Turn 4, spinning on the exit curb and clattering into the barrier, losing their rear wing and being forced to limp back to the pits in the final hour.
The #38 Jota Porsche of Button would challenge the Penske Porsche's for the final podium places, eventually being handed a 5-second stop/go penalty for an FCY infringement. This penalty would ruin their chances of a podium finish, ceasing fourth place to the recovering #7 Toyota driven by Kamui Kobayashi.
Maxime Martin would take back over from Valentino Rossi in the #46 BMW in the closing stages, as the #27 Aston Martin picked up a post-race penalty. Martin was challenging for fourth place on the road, with a chance of a podium finish with the penalty for the #27 Aston Martin.
However, being blue-flagged for the faster Hypercars would prove to undo the work of Martin, not quite being close enough to challenge the #59 McLaren.
The #8 Toyota would be driven across the line to take victory at the six hours of Sao Paulo by Sebatien Buemi, as the #6 Porsche Penske took second, with the #5 Porsche Penske rounding out the podium places in Hypercar.
In LMGT3, it was a dominant victory for the #92 Manthey Porsche, with the #95 United Autosports McLaren of Marino Sato taking second, and the #59 United Autosports of Nicholas Costa taking third from Valentino Rossi's #46 BMW team in fourth, after starting from 12th.
Hypercar Results - Top 10
1st #8 Toyota, Sebastien Buemi
2nd #6 Porsche Penske, Kevin Estre
3rd #5 Porsche Penske, Matt Campbell
4th #7 Toyota, Kamui Kobayashi
5th #51 Ferrari, Alessandro Pier Guidi
6th #50 Ferrari, Antonio Fuoco
7th #38 Jota Porsche, Jenson Button
8th #93 Peugeot, Jean-Eric Vergne
9th #15 BMW, Dries Vanthoor
10th #36 Alpine, Mick Schumacher
LMGT3 Results - Top 5
1st #92 Manthey Porsche, Klaus Bachler
2nd #27 Aston Martin Heart of Racing, Alex Riberas
3rd #95 McLaren United Autosports, Marino Sato
4th #59 McLaren United Autosports, Nicholas Costa
5th #46 BMW Team WRT, Maxime Martin (Valentino Rossi)
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