Via Italia Racing took the win at the fifth round of the Endurance Brazil Championship after torrential rains forced organizers to modify their schedule and condense all running to Saturday. However, despite the difficulties, Via Italia and its drivers, Chico Longo and Daniel Serra, claimed an important victory that solidified their lead in the championship standings.
Practice and Qualifying Washed out for Rain. While the weekend was initially supposed to begin on Thursday, intense rain and cold conditions meant there was little to be learned. Thus Via Italia decided to hold their Ferrari 488 GT3 from the circuit and focus on race preparations. As the conditions continued into the planned qualifying session on Friday, the organizers chose to compress qualifying and the race into Saturday.
Qualifying. Daniel Serra made good use of the abbreviated qualifying time to take pole position in the GT3 category on Brazil's Independence Day. The team was pleased to do the maximum possible in the class, while qualifying seventh overall.
Strong Performance Earns the Win. Chico Longo was first to take part in the 4 hour endurance race, doing an excellent job against professional drivers to keep the Ferrari in the top three of the GT3 category over his two stints. The delayed start time meant that Chico's stint was run entirely in daylight while Daniel's push to the finish would be done during sunset and into the night. Once Daniel was in the car, he set about chasing the leaders. With a remarkably strong first stint, Daniel was able to re-take the lead in the GT3 category, but was then touched by lapped traffic and tipped into a spin, falling back to third. Following the spin, Daniel re-took the lead, only to suffer the same fate, this time falling back to second position. But the Brazilian ace would not be denied. Over the next few laps, he stormed back into the lead and that was where he would finish, earning Via Italia Racing its third win from five races in 2019.
Hear from the Drivers. "Little practice and a race that started in the day and ended at night. I had to redouble my attention and be very careful. At the end the work went well and we got an important victory. We are alive in the championship," said Chico Longo. Daniel Serra was equally pleased, "A race with several scares on my part. It was very dark and some cars got in the way. But hte pace was good and we could regain lost positions. I am very happy."
Schedule. Via Italia Racing will return to the track with their Ferrari 488 GT3 on October 12th returning again to the Goiania circuit.