Buemi denied points at São Paulo after a collision

At São Paulo, round four of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the weekend turned into an ordeal for Sébastien Buemi and his teammates Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. A tricky qualifying had left the #8 TR010 HYBRID 14th on a grid separated by less than a second, pointing toward a recovery drive rather than a fight for the win.

The opening stages backed up that hope. The car climbed briefly into the top 10 after the first round of pit stops, an encouraging pace for a crew that started well down the order. Then, in the second hour, everything unravelled. Brendon Hartley was hit by a rival diving up the inside and locking its rears, bending the Toyota's right front suspension. The repairs cost sixteen minutes in the pits and wiped out any hope of scoring.

Sent to the back of the field, Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa still ran to the chequered flag, keeping it clean in case trouble struck their rivals ahead. It never came. "The contact basically ended our race," Buemi said afterwards. The #8 crossed the line 17th, twelve laps down on the winner.

Despite the setback, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing keeps the lead of the manufacturers' World Championship, five points clear of BMW M Team WRT at the halfway mark. Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa remain in contention, fifth in the drivers' standings and nineteen points off the top. The season resumes in eight weeks at Austin, in the United States.