Electrical problem at the sixth hour of the race takes away the top 5 of the Brazilian team, which still shows strength and resilience to cross the finish line in 13th overall and among the top 10 in the Pro Cup class with the drivers Cacá Bueno, Sérgio Jimenez and Felipe Fraga

The first time you never forget and this weekend will be marked in the history of the BMW Team Brasil. The team, led by Antonio Hermann and Washington Bezerra, raced for the first time the traditional 24 Hours of Spa – fourth round of the 2015 season of the Blancpain Endurance Series – with the drivers Caca Bueno, Sergio Jimenez and Felipe Fraga aboard the BMW Z4 # 77.

After some problems in the qualifying, which left the team in 42nd place overall on the grid and 22nd in the Pro Cup class, the team showed strength and resilience to cross the finish line in 13th overall and seventh in the Pro Cup on Sunday (26) in Spa. The result could have been even better. The team had an electrical problem at the sixth hour of the race and lost 13 laps for repairs.

In a race that started with rain and had accidents, various interventions of the Safety Car, yellow flags, fog at night and a few surprises in the end, the trio Markus Palttala (Fin), Lucas Luhr (Ger) and Nick Catsburg (Hol), of the BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS, won the race after 536 laps.

Starting from the back of the grid, which featured 57 cars in the race, the BMW Team Brasil started the 24 hours with Caca Bueno aboard the BMW Z4. With a strong pace, Bueno came to be in eighth place overall in the first stint of the race. Then, Jimenez and Fraga entered, keeping a good pace until the electrical problem. Even falling beyond the 30th position, the team remained strong in the race, all night, to cross the finish line in the top 10 of the Pro Cup.

Quotes

Cacá Bueno (Driver)
“It was good. Without that electrical problem, we could have finish in fifth overall, which was our initial goal before the problems in the qualifying. When we stopped, we lost half an hour in the pits. But we remain focused because the goal was not only end. We wanted to get in the top 10 and, at least in our category, we can.”

Sérgio Jimenez (Driver)
“We are delighted with the result. We lost 13 laps in the pits, which brought us out of the to 5. Even so, the team did a great job. Our car had no mechanical problems and to finish my first 24 hours with this result makes me very happy.”

Felipe Fraga (Driver)
“I was in love with the race. I did a long stint during the night and it was really cool. Too bad the problems that took away the top 5, but I’m still very happy with my pace and to be part of this experience”,

Antonio Hermann (Team Principal)
“Ending the first 24 hours is always very important and we managed to finish well, which is great. Of course it could have been better, but overall everything went well. We didn´t have any major problems, no accidents, all pit stops were great and the whole team have to be congratulated.”

The next challenge of the Brazilian team will be the in the Sprint Series category on the 6th of September at the Algarve (Por). By the endurance series, the team will compete on September 20th the last round of the season, at Nurburgring (Ale).