The fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in São Paulo concluded with a sixth-place finish for the Ferrari 296 LMGT3 #55 driven by François Heriau, Simon Mann, and Alessio Rovera, while the #54 driven by Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, and Davide Rigon finished fifteenth. The race contested on the 4.309 km Brazilian circuit of Interlagos took place in dry track conditions and moderate temperatures.
Francesco Castellacci, Vista AF Corse #54: "This is not the result we expected. We wanted to have a good race given the promising pace we showed in free practice. It started uphill with Thomas Flohr's first contact with the Lexus, then shortly after, a heavier impact with the Porsche which damaged the suspension. We lost over half an hour in the box, and from there, the goal was only to cover the kilometres to bring the car home."
Davide Rigon, Vista AF Corse #54: "It was quite a difficult race. Unfortunately, we were hit by two opponents: the second contact damaged the car and ruined the race. At best, we could have aimed for fifth or sixth place, no more. Despite the compromised race, the team did an excellent job repairing it, and we returned to the track with the aim of taking the chequered flag."
Alessio Rovera, Vista AF Corse #55: “The race was compromised by the penalty after contact with the Lamborghini, but we didn't really have the chance to be competitive anyway. Nevertheless, we gave our all, and from this perspective, sixth place isn't such a negative result, even though we had different ambitions. The car performed well even with the tyres, but today we simply had no way to achieve a different result.”
François Heriau, Vista AF Corse #55: "I started in seventh position and was quite cautious. I tried to maintain a good pace and avoid imprudent attacks, managing to pass several opponents and ending the first hour in third position, keeping pace with the top two. The start of the race was very good."
Simon Mann, Vista AF Corse #55: "François did a great job at the start, moving the car from seventh to third. When I got on the track, I had contact with another car and was pushed off while braking into turn four. Then, the tyre wear was very high, and it was difficult to maintain the pace."