6 HOURS OF SÃO PAULO: TEAM ISOTTA FRASCHINI DUQUEINE FORCED TO RETIRE JUST TWO HOURS FROM THE FINISH LINE
A good start, moving from 19th to 15th position, then falling back and a forced pit stop.
São Paulo (Brazil), July 15, 2024 – It started as a very promising weekend at the Interlagos circuit for the Isotta Fraschini Duqueine team. However, despite significant progress in lap times and race pace during practice and qualifying, which saw the Tipo 6 LMH Competizione significantly close the gap with the hypercars of other teams, the Italian-French team was forced to retire due to an engine problem just two hours before the checkered flag.
The return of the 6 Hours to the Brazilian track after a 10-year absence from the WEC calendar was marked by favorable weather conditions that allowed for a smooth race in front of an audience of over 73,200 spectators from around the world.
On Sunday (July 14), despite a strong performance in the first part of the race, with the number 11 moving from 19th to 15th position, a problem with the car, on which the technical and engineering team is currently conducting assessments, caused a setback on the scoreboard, dropping to 19th place before Bennet’s forced pit stop on lap 149.
Jean-Karl Vernay: “It was a very positive weekend. We’ve never shown such strong pace in qualifying. One of the goals was to improve race speed, and indeed at Interlagos, we recorded our best result. This is very encouraging. We were faster than many other cars, so this is super positive for the future of Isotta Fraschini Duqueine. It’s a pity the car had that problem, preventing us from finishing the race. We need to understand what happened, but performance-wise, there were significant improvements on track and compared to the rest of the field in the race. This is what we need to remember from this weekend in São Paulo.”
Carl Wattana Bennet: “There were positives and negatives this weekend in Brazil. We will keep working hard to be ready for COTA. We saw a very positive step in lap times during qualifying, and I’m confident that the Isotta Fraschini Duqueine team will continue to improve and move in the right direction!”
Antonio Serravalle: “It was a good weekend. We made great progress from Le Mans to here. We were only 1.5 seconds off the top in qualifying, and the pace was quite good in the first two stints until we had a small issue that forced us to retire. I’m looking forward to going to COTA.”
Overall, it was a positive weekend at the historic Autódromo José Carlos Pace for the Isotta Fraschini Duqueine team. Despite the unexpected setback, they are already looking forward to the sixth race of the season, scheduled for September 1, 2024, in Austin (USA) at the Circuit of the Americas, with the Lone Star Le Mans (COTA).
Stay tuned!
