Top-10 finish in Interlagos
Proton Competition emerged from the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship with a valuable top-10 finish overall after a challenging race. With fierce competition on track and the tight confines of the Autódromo José Carlos Pace adding an extra layer of pressure at the 6 Hours of São Paulo (13 July), the team’s performance hinged on staying out of trouble and executing a mistake-free run.
In the Hypercar class, Nicolas Pino delivered a composed and confident opening stint, keeping the #99 Porsche 963 firmly in the hunt for points. In the middle phase of the race, Neel Jani drew on all his skill and experience to solidify Proton Competition’s position, even climbing as high as sixth at times.
As the race entered its final stages, Nicolás Varrone showed what he was capable of, delivering an assured drive. In a tense battle with the Le Mans-winning Ferrari AF Corse team, the Argentine kept his cool, pulling off a decisive overtake in the closing hour to secure a valuable points finish.
“It was a great result for us today and I think we can be really proud of our performance,” said Varrone after the race. “It was an excellent race and, although it was difficult with the tyres, we were really happy with the finish.”
In the LMGT3 category, the Interlagos weekend was a challenging one for the pair of Ford Mustang LMGT3, with both the #77 (Ben Tuck, Bernardo Sousa, Ben Barker) and #88 cars (Stefano Gattuso, Giammarco Levorato, Dennis Olsen) having to retire due to a technical issue.
“It’s a shame because we were fighting among front-runners and could have finished in the top 6,” said Barker. “Everyone worked really hard, and we got a great balance on the car. It just wasn’t to be this weekend.”
The FIA WEC now heads into its summer break, with the series set to resume from 5 to 7 September at the Circuit of the Americas for the Lone Star Le Mans. Meanwhile, Proton Competition’s next outing will be round four of the European Le Mans Series: the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on the weekend of 22 to 24 August.
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Copyright: Proton Competition (Paola Depalmas)
