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Brazil: WRT Team drivers Ahmad al Harthy, Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi worked perfectly together and executed an excellent strategy to secure a hotly contested top five finish at the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Sao Paulo on Sunday.
The No. 46 BMW M4 raced back into the LMGT3 class standings with a fine performance from 12th on the grid, putting in a strong performance at the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo, with all three teammates gleaming in the hot Brazilian sun.
At the end of the race, Martin was just 0.7 seconds behind fourth place, and in the final 10 minutes of the race, Martin put great pressure on the No. 59 McLaren 720S. The fifth place in LMGT3 points means that Alhazi, Martin and Rossi are sixth in the provisional drivers’ standings in South America.
Al Harthy started first and within the first hour, he raced from 12th on the grid to advance into the top six with his expert driving skills, putting the Team WRT car in tight competition.
Martin handed the car over to him at the first pit stop and he continued to rise at a phenomenal pace and was on the podium in third place before the next round of pit stops, with Alhathy returning to the driver’s seat at the next round of pit stops for his second drive.
Al Harthy team performs well in Sao Paulo
The Omani driver was seventh on the grid when he left the pits, but he immediately got back into the race, quickly working his way back into the top six. His race was flawless, including a thrilling four-row run down the Tribunas Straight – which ended with Al Harthy’s masterful move to put the BMW into the team’s lead – and he was as high as second before pitting late in the third hour.
Martin returned to the driver’s seat and exited the pits in seventh place, moving into the top five. Less than an hour later, he returned to the pits and handed the BMW to Rossi to complete the first few miles of the race.
Rossi started the race in fifth place at the start of the fifth hour, then swapped places with the No. 81 Corvette and was third with less than 90 minutes left before the next round of pit stops. The Italian driver pitted and moved back into eighth place with 75 minutes left, moving up to third again as different strategies were implemented.
With half an hour left in the race, Rossi made his final pit stop and Martin returned to the driver’s seat. With 20 minutes left, he was sixth, and less than 10 minutes later he was fifth, on par with the No. 59 McLaren – Martin was only 0.7 seconds behind the top four.
The sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, also known as “Lone Star Le Mans,” will be held on Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
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