Larbre Competition will be at the historic Interlagos circuit in Brazil this weekend (13-15 September) for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, round five of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship. The team currently sits top of the GTE Am class standings following its fourth place finish at Silverstone three weeks ago. Returning to winning ways would represent an ideal start to the second half of this year’s championship and there are plenty of reasons to suspect both Corvette C6.Rs will be in the hunt come Saturday. While South America’s only round on the 2012 schedule represents most teams’ first ever appearance at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Larbre Competition will be able to call on the first-hand experience of winning the GT1 class there in 2007 during the Le Mans Series season finale.
Of further benefit to the French team’s chances will be local driver Fernando Rees who spent much time honing his skills at Interlagos during his junior career. For the Brazilian, who again shares the #50 Corvette C6.R with co-drivers Patrick Bornhauser and Julien Canal, his home race will represent a very special occasion. Having worked with partners GFAI/GSS to make both his and Larbre Competition’s WEC seasons carbon neutral, this weekend will see the event’s entire CO2 footprint offset by credits created by a range of projects throughout Brazil.
In the #70 sister machine Christophe Bourret, Jean-Philippe Belloc and Pascal Gibon will be hoping to build on their encouraging and confidence building performance at Silverstone where the trio finished fourth in class. Another podium, to add to the one scored at Sebring earlier this season, will be the target once again.
Fernando Rees, #50 Corvette C6.R: “Racing at Interlagos is bound to be a very special occasion for me and one that I wanted to mark in some significant way. My partners GFAI/GSS have been working to successfully make my and the team’s season carbon neutral. We’re taking that a step further at Interlagos by offsetting the entire event’s CO2 emissions, a first for the FIA World Endurance Championship. It will be a very proud moment for me to compete at my home race knowing that we’ve helped to do our bit for the environment.”
Christophe Bourret, #70 Corvette C6.R: “Silverstone was a good race even if we had hoped for a better final result. The three of us certainly enjoyed racing on such a famous circuit. Although a slight flat spot on my left-front tyre hampered our progress during my first stint, the second went exactly to the plan we had originally worked out. My thanks go to the entire team for their help and support.”
Pascal Gibon, #70 Corvette C6.R: “Following two months away from the paddock, returning after the summer break to a magnificent circuit like Silverstone felt very positive indeed. We might have only finished fourth in class but I really enjoyed driving the Corvette again after what had been a difficult start to the season. The level of this championship is very high but with our confidence having now returned we cannot wait for the next round at Interlagos.”
Jean-Philippe Belloc, #70 Corvette C6.R: “Even if the final result was not that great we can at least reflect on completing a solid race at Silverstone, one that would have seen us finish a little higher with a bit more experience. The competition is very tight and the level of racing exceptional. It was nevertheless a very positive weekend and one that has given us much confidence heading into the next round.”
Jack Leconte, Team Manager: “Everyone is really looking forward to returning to Brazil where we will have a few elements in our favour. We are one of the few teams with any experience of racing at Interlagos after winning there in 2007, while Fernando’s local knowledge will also play a significant role. It’s important that we produce a polished performance after what happened at Silverstone where #50′s exclusion arose from the team installing the wrong fire extinguisher during the car’s preparation prior to the race. Larbre Competition accepted the stewards’ decision and have worked hard to modify its assembly procedures during the installation of safety equipment. I am convinced that strengthening these already stringent checks can only improve the team’s performance over the second half of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship.”
Source : Larbre Compétition