Great pace, but no chequered flag
The Tipo 6 LMH Competizione hypercar is continuously improving and showed great shape in Brazil during the FIA WEC fifth event, but an electrical problem stopped its race
It was a great weekend for the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH Competizione in Brazil on the Interlagos circuit for the fifth weekend of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship. The Milanese hypercar, managed on track by the French team Duqueine, has further improved its performance, even setting a lap time just 1″6 from the pole position during the Qualifying session, driven by Jean-Karl Vernay. Demonstration of how hard the technicians of Michelotto Engineering, which develops the car on behalf of the Lombard company, have worked during the season and more than halved the gap compared to the leaders.
Even the first two hours of the race they elated the fans of the renowned Italian brand, with the car quickly climbing up to the fourteenth place, making that of the Tipo 6 the second-best comeback of the first part of the race with five positions gained. But then a 5″ stop&go due to an overpower sent the hypercar back, where it continued to perform well in front of the large crowd in the stands (73,205 spectators present over the weekend). However, an electrical malfunction forced the car to retire a few minutes before the fourth hour.
“I think it has been a very positive weekend, we’ve never showed such a good pace in qualifying,” said Vernay to the media after the race. “I also said a few days ago that speed in the race should have been better and here, in Interlagos, it has been effectively better. So I think it has been very encouraging. We were in the middle of the pack and faster than many cars, so this is super-positive for the future. This is what we should remember from this weekend in Sao Paulo”.
Very happy also the CEO Miguel Valldecabres, newly appointed as Isotta Fraschini Motorsport Director: We’re extremely blessed to see reduce the distance between our Tipo 6 and the top Hypercars. We’re closing the gap race-by-race, even if we’re facing a lot of technical constraints and timing issues, so we hadn’t the time to do as much testing as we would like to. The fact that we’re closing the gap, learning as we go, makes us very happy and we look forward to a promising future!”.
Now the car will move by sea to Texas, where on September 1st it is racing the sixth stage of the season at the Circuit of the Americas.