McLaren celebrates maiden FIA WEC podium in Brazil
McLaren celebrated its first FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) podium at Brazil’s Interlagos circuit last weekend (13th and 14th July), home to the São Paulo Grand Prix and many memorable moments from the company’s history.
From the start of the weekend the McLaren GT3 EVO cars – run by racing partner United Autosports – adapted well to the demands of the São Paulo-based track, which returned to the WEC calendar for the first time since 2014. The #59 car of James Cottingham, Gregoire Saucy and Brazil’s Nicolas Costa was fastest in the first free practice session on Friday morning, and both cars ran strongly in the following sessions, setting up an intriguing qualifying battle for the tightly packed field.
Both cars qualified for the LMGT3 Hyperpole session for the 10 fastest qualifiers, in which Bronze drivers Josh Caygill and Cottingham set times to secure the third and fourth fastest times, locking out row two of the starting grid.
The two cars briefly battled at the start of the six-hour race, when Cottingham initially got the jump on Caygill, who soon reclaimed the place and began to build a gap as he closed on the leading cars. The Interlagos circuit’s abrasive surface proved to be tough on tyre wear, with Cottingham losing a place in the process, but the McLaren GT3 EVO’s lightweight carbon fibre chassis allowed the drivers to manage their tyres well, and both cars stayed within the top eight while the order fluctuated as teams made their pit stops as the race progressed.
Consistent pace and pit stops for the McLaren GT3 EVO cars ensured the United Autosports team could cycle through the driver stints and maintain position. Nico Pino took over from Caygill for the middle two hours of the race, while Saucy did the same in the #59 car. Both cars remained competitive, running third and fifth in class as Marino Sato and Costa took over for the final stint to the finish.
While Sato held a comfortable third place as he raced the #95 car to the podium, Costa in the #59 car moved up to third place as rival cars pitted for fuel but came under increasing pressure from rivals in the final 15 minutes of the race. Using all of his knowledge of the Interlagos circuit, the Brazilian was inch perfect with his car placement to follow Sato home in fourth place.
As Caygill, Pino and Sato stood on the WEC podium they celebrated a strong haul of points for the McLaren GT3 EVO. The United Autosports team secured a total of 27 points to lift the #59 car to 10th in the standings and the #95 car to 11th as the championship heads to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race on 1st September.
