3rd & 4th for Manthey at the 6 Hours of São Paulo

This past weekend saw the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, host the 6 Hours of São Paulo, the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Following a discouraging 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend, the Manthey team arrived hopeful of a strong result, despite the unpredictable weather for which São Paulo is renowned.

For the #91 Manthey DK Engineering car, qualifying duties on Saturday fell to James Cottingham. Unfortunately, James missed out on Hyperpole for the first time this season, although only by a narrow margin, securing P11 on the grid for Sunday's race.

Wet conditions on Sunday morning meant the circuit still had a thin layer of moisture when the race got underway. Although the lingering dampness posed a minor threat throughout the six hours, it proved little more than an inconvenience for the teams.

James took the start and quickly settled into the race, battling BMW driver Darren Leung for position. A pivotal moment in the #91's race came early in his stint. Trapped in a queue of cars, the team elected to offset its strategy by bringing James in early for fresh tyres and an energy boost before sending him back out. Although this dropped the car towards the back of the field, it ultimately provided a strategic advantage.

Timur Boguslavskiy took over for the middle stint and continued the charge through the pack. The alternative strategy initially gave him clear air, allowing him to increase the pace as those ahead slowed and eventually peeled into the pits. It wasn't long before the #91 had worked its way back into the top ten.

Ayhancan Güven took over for the final stint, as has become customary for the #91 crew this season. As ever, his pace earned the team valuable time and several more positions. With just four minutes remaining, and the threat of rain increasing once again, Güven overtook former Formula One driver Logan Sargeant in the factory Ford Mustang to claim fourth place, finishing behind the #92 Manthey Porsche for the team's strongest joint result of the season so far.

The WEC now enters its summer break before returning to Texas for the Lone Star Le Mans on 6 September.