RGR Sport Takes Victory at 6 Hours of Mexico

The 6 Hours of Mexico presented by AT&T was nothing short of the perfect weekend for the solo Mexican team in the FIA World Endurance Championship after qualifying on pole and winning the race amongst their home crowd.

Starting in the front brought the advantage as Brazilian driver; Bruno Senna extended his lead by five seconds before the field went to full course yellow in result of the #37 SMP Racing machine making contact with the wall. The team took the opportunity to pit as Senna handed the car over to Team Owner, Ricardo Gonzalez. The swap turned into a tough pit stop after being stuck behind their paddock neighbor, ESM Patron, in pit lane, which caused the Mexican team to lose one position upon re-entering the race.

Gonzalez kept the Mexican fans entertained as he fought back for first position against G-Drive’s, Roman Rusinov, in the #26 car. The battle got hot in turn five as Ricardo used traffic to his advantage to go around the outside of Rusinov, only to be spun around as both cars hit the apex of the corner, losing approximately 20 seconds and moving down to third position.

Hour three kicked off with another pit stop and driver change as Senna once again took the wheel. Determined to get back to the front of the field, Senna did not hold back as he pushed his way through traffic to close the gap between himself and second. Another full course yellow led to the next driver change, which meant Filipe Albuquerque would finally sink his teeth into the 6 Hours of Mexico presented by AT&T.

Albuquerque had the honor of taking on the change in weather as the temperature dropped and rain began fall in the fourth hour. With the conditions being on the edge of wet and dry, the entire field of cars volleyed between which tire would suit the continuously changing track. Making the call to go from slicks to intermediate didn’t last long as the Portuguese driver was called back to the pits for a new set of slicks with just over one hour left. Luck showed its favor to RGR Sport shortly after when the #36 Alpine surrendered their second place position due to a drive through penalty for pit stop infringement.

The Mexican team charged into the final hour with the challenge of closing a 40 second gap from second to first. The feat seemed as if it would be unattainable until the leader of the LMP2 category, #26 car of G-Drive, had a brake failure that sent flames from beneath it’s wheel wells and ultimately back to the garage. The energy immediately changed from within the garage of RGR Sport as they moved into first place. The energy outside of the garage was even more elevated with the home crowd roaring as Albuquerque came into the pits for one more splash of fuel, and more importantly, some more water after being in the car for two and a half stints.

Fastest out of all the practice sessions, qualifying on pole, and winning the 6 Hours of Mexico presented by AT&T made for the perfect weekend for RGR Sport at their home race. Next up is Austin, Texas on September 17th where the team will continue to fight for the point’s lead of the LMP2 category in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Team Owner/Driver – Ricardo Gonzalez

“I’m so happy to be at the end of the race here in Mexico. First place is a dream come true and it was a very special podium. I’m pretty sure I will never see another podium as special as this one again. It’s special for me because of all the months of hard work and the pressure of promoting an event for the first time. It feels so much better now that it’s over and we have this result. Seeing the public being so loud and cheering on the Mexican car was something I will never forget.”

Driver – Bruno Senna

“What a fantastic day. It’s so difficult to hold your nerves during a race like that. It was definitely a mind game with so much going on, but ultimately the team did a perfect job all weekend since the very first lap I drove in the car. We started the race with everything going really well, but some things didn’t quite go our way. Thankfully things turned out for the better making this weekend the perfect one with pole position and the race win.

Little by little we are chipping away at the points lead that the #36 has on us. Looking forward to getting some more points in Austin after our next race.”

Driver – Filipe Albuquerque

“Im very, very tired after the race. In the middle of the second stint I ran out of water in the car and shortly after I said yes to staying in the car for another hour and a half. I just wanted so badly to win so I gave it my all. We were lucky, but there are no champions without luck. When everyone started having problems I just had to take care of the race at that point.

Bruno and Ricardo did an amazing job in qualifying and in the race. I was pretty tired because I spent so much time in the car at this altitude, but it was worth every drop of sweat.”

Sporting Director – Toni Calderon

“It was an amazing day and it’s hard to pick the words to say right now. It was obviously one of the most stressful races we’ve ever had. We started out really well with a really good pace, and then we had all kinds of problems, but we kept fighting back. When we saw the G-Drive was having problems things started getting really exciting.

Everyone did a great job, Bruno, Ricardo, and then Filipe at the end with the really tricky conditions. It’s all still sinking in. I think it’s going to take awhile.”

Contact:

media@speed-group.us

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