Porsche Penske Motorsport secures World Endurance Championship double podium in 6 Hours of São Paulo

Despite an early incident resulting in a puncture for the #6 car of Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor and dropping it to 19th, the team put in a stellar charge back through the field to secure the runner-up spot after starting fifth.

The #6 crew has now extended its WEC championship lead to 19 points with three rounds remaining. It won the season-opener in Qatar, before finishing second at both Imola and Spa. The #6 car also finished fourth at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, having lined up on pole.

The #5 car shared by Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen and Frédéric Makowiecki rounded off the podium, having lined up third for Sunday’s race. It is now fourth in the standings, having taken pole at Qatar before finishing third - a result it repeated at Imola. It also took pole at Spa and finished sixth at Le Mans.

Porsche has now had two cars on the podium at four of the five WEC races so far this season, and leads the manufacturers’ championship by four points.

The #38 Hertz Team JOTA entry of Jenson Button, Phil Hanson and Oliver Rasmussen finished seventh, while the sister #12 car of Callum Ilott, Norman Nato and Will Stevens, which won at Spa, was 18th after a late crash forced it into the pits.

The #99 Proton Competition entry of Julien Andlauer and Neel Jani finished 16th, with a drive-through penalty for contact with another Hypercar making it a difficult day.

In the LMGT3 class, the #92 PureRxcing entry shared by Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm took another dominant win - its second of the season.

Having lined up second, it went on to finish over 20 seconds clear of its closest rival to secure the championship lead. The car took its first win of the season at Qatar before securing pole and finishing third at Imola. The #92 car finished second at Spa and took another pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans before a tricky race saw it finish 14th.

The sister Manthey car, the #91 Manthey EMA car driven by Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin, finished 12th after early contact forced it back into the pits for extensive repairs. The car previously had class wins at Spa and Le Mans.

Story of the race

#6 car

Having lined up fifth for Sunday’s race, the #6 car dropped one position off the line, but held on to sixth into the opening stages. 

After the first full course yellow, it was close to the #12 car on the restart, and after the Hertz Team JOTA car passed the #2 Cadillac for fourth, the factory Porsche 963 followed it through next time round up the inside of Turn 1.

But on lap 28, it suffered contact with the #51 Ferrari, with the #6 car sustaining a puncture that forced it back to the pits, dropping it to last in class.

The team put in a strong effort to get back out quickly, and set about cutting through the field, making its way back to tenth by lap 54 before a brilliant move the following lap saw it take two positions at Turn 1.

It continued to make up places, passing the #2 Cadillac at Turn 1 on lap 61 for sixth before taking another place - this time from the #38 car - next time round.

Yet more positions came three laps later as it passed the #51 Ferrari for fourth to sit directly behind the #5 sister car before stopping shortly after.

With the earlier incident having put the car out of sync with the rest of the field, the #6 car continued to hold a strong position, and was running second before it was passed by the #5 car at Turn 1 on lap 100.

The pair continued to trade positions, and the #6 was briefly ahead again before running wide to allow the #5 car back through on lap 139, though it was back ahead soon after having benefitted from its alternative strategy.

With a valiant effort after having been dropped to 19th early on, the #6 crew made an astonishing recovery to cross the line just over a minute behind in second.

#5 car

The #5 car started third for Sunday’s race, lining up behind the two Toyotas, holding that position into the first full course yellow period after 15 minutes of racing.

It closed the gap to second from four seconds to just 1.5s by lap 20, and was still running third at the one hour mark before stopping soon after.

It came out the pits behind the #51 Ferrari in fourth, but soon recaptured the position, and a drive-through penalty for the #7 Toyota brought it even closer to the leader, with just a five-second gap.

On lap 71, the #5 car snatched second after taking advantage of a mistake from the #8 Toyota at the final corner. 

After another stop, it was running behind the sister #6 car, and the pair continued their battle for the following stages through the stops.

With two hours remaining, the #5 car was running in second, and after another stop dropped it back, was in a fierce battle with the #51 Ferrari for third place, coming out in front.

Though the #5 car was running in the lead late on, the mixed strategies saw the #6 car benefit, and the #5 fended off challenges from the #38 car and the #7 Toyota to hold on to complete the podium.

Customer racing

It was a mixed day for the Hertz Team JOTA cars, with the #38 car finishing seventh while the #12 car was 18th. 

The #38 entry lined up eighth, losing a spot in the opening stages before making progress into the second hour up to seventh before moving up to fifth soon after.

It was then passed by the #6 car on lap 63 before dropping to eighth after its stop, but stayed inside the top 10, making it back up to eighth on lap 131 after passing the #50 Ferrari at Turn 1.

It briefly led around the 200-lap mark before stopping to exit in fifth, and was running in fourth in the closing stages before a late five second stop-and-go penalty for a technical infringement dropped it to seventh.

The sister #12 car started seventh, with a strong start from Stevens taking two positions on the opening lap.

It took fourth on lap 22, snatching the position from the #2 Cadillac at Turn 1, before receiving a 30-second stop-and-go penalty for contact with the #6 car soon after.

Stopping on lap 42, the #12 car took new bodywork after damage from the earlier incident, and though the long stop dropped it back through the order, it was back up to sixth by the closing stages.

But with less than one hour remaining, the car crashed on cool tyres after exiting the pits, losing the rear at Turn 4 and suffering further rear-end damage which forced it back to the garage for a lengthy stop to finish three laps down.

LMGT3 

The #92 Manthey PureRxcing entry took its second win of the season in São Paulo, having lined up second before securing a dominant victory - and the championship lead.

Holding second off the line and into the early stages, it took the lead 90 minutes into the race at Turn 11 before stopping soon after.

Heading back out into the lead, it continued to build a strong lead, and was over a minute clear of its closest rival for much of the race.

Though the #27 Heart of Racing car made strong progress to close the gap, slashing the advantage to a matter of seconds, the #92 car rebuilt its advantage to over 18 seconds by the final stops.

It went on to cross the line a lap ahead of its closest rival, which was handed a penalty in the final laps for a full course yellow infringement.

It was a tougher day for the #91 Manthey EMA entry, which lined up fifth before heavy contact with the #54 Ferrari on lap 21 forced it into a lengthy pitstop.

Things got tougher after it was handed a one-minute penalty for the incident, and it was unable to recover, finishing five laps down.

After a valiant effort by both Porsche Penske Motorsport crews, the team leads both championships after the halfway point of the season.

Eager to continue its streak of success, the team returns for the Lone Star Le Mans on September 1.