Fans at the inaugural 6 Hours of Mexico presented by AT&T will have plenty to cheer when the FIA World Endurance Championship visits the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in two weeks’ time, with an all-Latin American driver line-up in LMP2 entered by Greaves Motorsport certain to generate enormous local interest.
The foundations for this one-off programme were laid in 2012, when Mexico promoter Ricardo Gonzalez drove with Greaves at every race except the 6 Hours of Sao Paolo, where he was replaced by elder brother Roberto, a former Champ Car racer. The two parties kept in touch over the subsequent years and a deal was struck for the reigning European Le Mans Series champions to run three Latin American drivers in promotion of the event.
Roberto Gonzalez returns to the team alongside Mexican compatriot Luis Diaz and will be joined in the open-top Gibson 015S by 2000 FIA International Formula 3000 champion Bruno Junqueira from Brazil. Following a productive two-day test at Monza, team manager Jacob Greaves is confident of a strong showing on the team’s WEC return.
“I know all three drivers have experience of racing in Mexico back from when they raced in Champ Car, so even though the circuit is heavily different, there are maybe some advantages they can get from having raced at altitude before,” explained Greaves. “They are also good friends and having three people that get on well together in a racing car, are happy to compromise for each other and willing to help each other is always a good recipe for success.
“They haven’t driven that much recently so there was a bit of getting up to speed in a P2 car at the test, but all the drivers were consistent and quick over long runs and they were also fast on the shorter runs, which bodes well.
“There’s a lot they have to learn in terms of the procedures and things like that and with how competitive the WEC is, you have to be on your A-game with absolutely everything. But with the experience they have, they are relaxed in the car and able to take on lots of information, so we’re able to talk them through each of the procedures while driving at 100%.”
Greaves added that he is relishing the crowd-favourites tag and is excited by the prospect of duelling alongside Ricardo Gonzalez’s RGR Sport entry.
“Mexico is going to be a big event for everyone, there will be a lot of supporters there and they have a massive love for racing,” he continued. “With Ricardo in the RGR Sport car, there’s going to be a great battle if the Mexicans can get fighting each other on circuit – that should be a great spectacle to watch.
“It’s really exciting, as a team we’ve done all the races on the WEC calendar across 2012 and 2013, so to come to the new race at Mexico is very exciting for us. We’re going there with three drivers that can really shine at the top and we’re going there as a team to really prove what we can do as well.”
By James Newbold
Photo: Bruno Junqueira
