The 6 Hours of SãoPaulo, fourth round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship will take place on Sunday, 1st September but the action starts much earlier than that for all those involved at the Autodromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos.
Administrative checks for the teams begin from 09:00h (all timings are local) today, Thursday, 29th August, and from 13:00h for the drivers, whilst the cars started moving through Technical Scrutineering from 09:30h until 19:00h. These are completed on Friday morning.
Following briefings by FIA WEC Race Director Eduardo Freitas for drivers at 08:30h and team managers at 08:45h, track action for the series starts at 11:05h for a 90-minute free practice session. The briefings are all the more important here as it is the first time back in the cockpit for many drivers since the 24 Hours of Le Mans, plus there are teams new to the track such as Porsche AG Team Manthey.
After the lunch break, competitors will be back on track at 15:40h for a second free practice session of one and a half hours before taking a well-earned break ahead of the third and final free practice which will run on Saturday morning, 31st August from 10:20-11:20h.
While all the classes are brought together during free practice, this isn’t the case for qualifying which is separated into two sessions. LMGTE Pro and Am class cars will lead the way with 25-minutes of fierce track action from 14:35-15:00h, while the LMP1 and LMP2 cars will follow on from 15:10-15:35h to see who will claim overall pole position for Sunday’s race.
Amid the FIA WEC track action, fans and spectators will have plenty to keep them entertained as the Brazilian Superbike series will be competing alongside the Porsche GT3 Cup Brasil. Qualifying for both series takes place on Saturday together with the first Porsche GT3 Cup race from 16:20-16:50h. The Superbike race takes place early on Sunday morning at 08:00h – guaranteeing fans a full day of enjoyment – followed by two further Porsche races.
Sunday is the big day for everyone as spectators will be able to get up close to the teams and cars spread over the length and breadth of the pit lane during the Pit Walk, which is scheduled from 10:05-1055h, while the FIA WEC drivers will also be available for photos and autographs from 10:05-10:35h.
Preparation time for the race follows, and the drivers will be on the grid for the 6 Hours of SãoPaulo which begins at 12 noon. It’s a race which should be just as exciting as the previous three rounds of the 2013 FIA WEC with hard-fought battles to be won in every category.
Fiona Miller
Photo: AUTODROMO JOSE CARLOS PACE (INTERLAGOS, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL), 6 HOURS OF SAO PAULO, WEDNESDAY 28TH AUGUST 2013, TECHNICAL SCRUTINEERING.
