Brendon Hartley's super-drive in Sao Paulo - Weekend Motorsport Recap
Jul 15, 2024
World Endurance Championship
The #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry piloted by Brendon Hartley and teammate Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi won the Six Hours of Sao Paulo in dominant fashion, finishing over a minute clear of their nearest competitor.
The trio’s GR010 Hybrid started the race in P2 and inherited the lead when their sister-car suffered a fuel sensor issue, costing them three minutes of race time.
The #8 would hold this lead until the end of the race.
The #2 Cadillac V-Series.R of Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn struggled with braking issues which massively affected their pace, eventually finishing in P13.
IndyCar
Scott McLaughlin took his first ever win on an oval in the opening race of the weekend in Iowa, with the Kiwi now claiming the title of IndyCar driver.
“I didn’t want to call myself an IndyCar driver until I won on an oval, so I’m going to call myself an IndyCar driver now.” Said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin rounded out the double header with a podium in the second race of the weekend, bouncing back after a tricky couple of months.
Scott Dixon approached the weekend with his trademark consistency, taking P4 in both races and gaining some valuable championship points after his mechanical DNF from the last round in Mid-Ohio.
Indy NXT
Young Kiwi Callum Hedge had his first ever outing on an oval this weekend and proved to be a natural, finishing the race in P4.
“That was one of the craziest races I’ve ever done! Stayed out of trouble and had a good push at the end to finish 4th. I think if the caution hadn’t come out at the end, I could have challenged for a podium - stoked with that for my oval debut.” Said Hedge on Instagram.
The IndyCar feeder series will be back on an oval when they next race on the 17th of August at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois.
NASCAR Xfinity
Shane van Gisbergen was on for his best oval result since February at the Pocono Superspeedway this weekend before he was spun out by another driver in the late stages of the race.
A clever strategy call by his Kaulig Racing team saw SVG running in the top-10 with less than 10 laps to go, until Sam Mayer bumped him in nose-to-tail contact, spinning the #97 car out and scuppering any chance for a good result.
The Supercars-champion managed to keep his Chevy out of the wall and would eventually finish P31.
“We are getting better and better on these ovals. My No. 97 Kaulig Racing team made a good call on strategy and we had pretty good tires, but just got taken out there at the end two separate times.” Said van Gisbergen.
He won’t have to wait long for another go on the Superspeedway, as NASCAR heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend.