Endurance Brasil series

[DanielVieceli]

Starting this thread to provide more information on the Brazilian Endurance Championship, aka, Endurance Brasil

[DanielVieceli]

Perhaps Brazil is not the country you'd think when talking about GTs and Prototypes. However, since 2014 a local championship has been flourishing.

In an era where motor racing becomes every day more standardized and BoP’ed, hardcore fans dream about what would be if there was a series with technical freedom similar to what the Can-Am or Interserie were.

Sure there is the Unlimited class at Pikes Peak that gave us machines like the VW ID.R or the Peugeot 208 Pikes Peak, but even so that’s only one category of a once per year 12 mile race. Time Attack also provides a lot of room for thinking outside the box, but both still lacking wheel-to-wheel competition.

[Hawkwood]

Is this the series that Tarso Marques' lovely new car will compete in?

[DanielVieceli]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

Is this the series that Tarso Marques' lovely new car will compete in?

Yep

[helgi]

Waiting for more tech info. Thanks a lot in advance!

[Juntos]

It has an interesting grid... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBPUU0x_Tsg

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by Juntos

It has an interesting grid... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBPUU0x_Tsg

No issues with track limits there, for some reason...

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by Mike E

No issues with track limits there, for some reason...

That Track Limits thing is a luxury of the western world like the one make prototype racing and BoPs.

[DanielVieceli]

Originally Posted by helgi

Waiting for more tech info. Thanks a lot in advance!

Starting with the prototypes, in 2019 there were 4 classes, with the following limitations:

P1: this is the premier prototype class, for cars with engines limited to 7.000 cm³ if naturally aspirated, or 4.200 cm³ if forced induction. The regulation for this class is as follow (minimum weight / maximum fuel tank capacity):

LMP3 / Ginetta G57 P2: 940 kg / 105 lt

other cars with NA engines:
6.001 cm³ to 7.000 cm³: 900 kg / 115 lt
5.001 cm³ to 6.000 cm³: 860 kg / 115 lt
3.801 cm³ to 5.000 cm³: 820 kg / 115 lt
2.501 cm³ to 3.800 cm³: 730 kg / 115 lt
Up to 2.500 cm³: 680 kg / 115 lt

other cars with Forced Induction Engines:
2.401 cm³ to 4.200 cm³: 900 kg / 115 lt
2.001 cm³ to 2.400 cm³: 800 kg / 115 lt
Up to 2.000 cm³ (more than 2 valve per cylinder): 760 kg / 115 lt
Up to 2.100 cm³ (2 valve per cylinder): 700 kg / 115 lt
Up to 1.350 cm³ (bike engines): 520 kg / 80 lt

Other than that, the following engines are prohibited:
Judd Power: HK V8 LMP2, JUDD KV (ZYTEC) V8 F3000, JUDD DB3.0, JUDD DB3.4, JUDD DB4.0, JUDD GV 4.0, JUDD GV 4.2, JUDD GV 5.0, JUDD GV 5.5;
Zytec;
Acura HPD AR35TT;
Gibson Technology: GK428 LM P2, GL458 LM P1;
AER: SR20, P03, P07, P14, P25, P32, P41, P60B, P63, P65, P91 e P91P;
Mecachrome V634P1 LM P1;
Toyota TS050 Hybrid LM P1;
Chevrolet Ilmor.
Forced Induction engines over 4200 cm3

There is also a limit of tires per qualy session + race: 10 tires for 3-hour races or 14 tires for 4-hour races. Both the engine and tire limitations are in place to avoid cost escalating, or one team over expending the others in order to achieve an advantage.

In addition, the cars must comply FIA Annex J safety recommendations. And that’s it as far as regulations go, so there is not limiting stuff like aero, engines, transmissions, suspensions or any other technical aspect of the cars, pretty much making for a modern day Can-Am or Interserie.

For 2020, there is talks to forbid the use of carbon brakes (very expensive in Brazil, due to exchange rates and import taxes) and to use restrictors on the larger engines to avoid the same hp race that killed Can-Am.

[DanielVieceli]

So, to give you guys some context, the Endurance Brasil series was born from the Endurance RS, a regional championship held in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state. Initially, the Endurance RS championship expanded by bringing racers from the folded GT3 Brasil series and the Spyder Race Championship, a one-make series for Aldee Spyders which was held in São Paulo with some races in Paraná.

Eventually, the series captured the interest of various racers by allowing a wide range of cars (from small 1.6 liter Touring Cars with radial tyres to GT3 Machinery with full race slicks), and by having low entry fees and overall running cost.

Another key point is that the series is organized and runned by the APE (Associação dos Pilotos de Endurance - Endurance Drivers Assossiation), meaning that rules, event format and everything related to the races is decided by the drivers and team owners.

Last, but not least, the series received a boost when they scored a title sponsorship with Cervejaria Império (a Brazilian brewery), firs through their energy drink Dopamina and later through their beer brand Império. This allowed the organization to invest in things like a better live coverage via YouTube, with in track reporters and more and better placed cameras (now, besides the on track cameras, the series is using drones and are experimenting with on board cameras to provide different angles to the transmission)

But this is enough of politics, so from now on we can go through the classes, cars and drivers of this series.

[DanielVieceli]

The P2 class is actually a grandfathering class, for cars built to the 2018-spec P1 regulations. This means it has the same tire limitations, as well as the forbidden engines list, with only slightly different weight/fuel capacity pairings, as below:

Cars with NA engines:
6.301 cm³ to 7.000 cm³: 900 kg / 100 lt
5.001 cm³ to 6.300 cm³: 880 kg / 100 lt
4.001 cm³ to 5.000 cm³: 800 kg / 100 lt
3.601 cm³ to 4.000 cm³: 750 kg / 100 lt
2.501 cm³ to 3.600 cm³: 730 kg / 100 lt
Up to 2.500 cm³: 680 kg / 100 lt

Cars with forced induction engines:
2.401 cm³ to 4.200 cm³: 900 kg / 100 lt
2.101 cm³ to 2.400 cm³: 780 kg / 100 lt
Up to 2.100 cm³ (more than 2 valves per cylinder): 740 kg / 100 lt
Up to 2.100 cm³ (2 valve per cylinder): 700 kg / 100 lt
Up to 1.350 cm³ (bike engines): 520 kg / 80 lt

As a side linte, the car Tarso Marques built, while originally intended for P2, will race in P1, as P2 accepts only older prototypes.

[helgi]

Championship bosses should be very careful to protect this fruitful machine oasis from self-destruction, for sure. And they can gain lots of positive publicity by the fact it's so open for prototypes. You can count on leaves of clover number of constructors' free championships.

[DanielVieceli]

P3 is for prototypes with small naturally aspirated engines, with similar design freedom and the following specifications:

Up to 1.507 cm³ (bike engine): 450 kg / 80 lt
Up to 2.300 cm³ (more than 2 valves per cylinder): 680 kg / 100 lt
Up to 2.100 cm³ (more than 2 valves per cylinder): 650 kg / 100 lt
Up to 2.200 cm³ (2 valves per cylinder): 620 kg / 100 lt

Tire allocation is 8 tires for 3-hour races and 12 tires for 4-hour races.

P4 is a low cost class, for cars using Brazilian made Pirelli 13-inch slicks, with the following limitations:

Up to 2.100 cm³ (2 valves per cylinder): 630 kg / 100 lt
Up to 2.400 cm³ (2 valve per cylinder with imported sequential gearboxes): 645 kg / 100 lt
Up to 2.400 cm³ (2 valve per cylinder with imported sequential gearboxes and original intake manifold): 620 kg / 100 lt

The tire allocation is the same as P3, and from 2020 onwards the P4 class is expected to be merged in the P3 class.

[DanielVieceli]

Now, to delve on each class cars, let’s start with P1 entry list for 2020:

#05 MC Tubaṛo РMetalmoro JLM AJR / Chevrolet LS3 V8 РGeciel de Andrade / Julio Martini / Paulo Sousa

#11 JLM Sports – Metalmoro JLM AJR / Chevrolet LS3 V8 – EmÃ*lio Padrón / Vitor Genz

#12 Sigma P1 – Sigma P1 / Audi V8 Turbo – Jindra Kraucher

#20 Ebrahim Motorsports – Ginetta G57 P2 / Chevrolet LS3 V8 – Fábio Ebrahim / Wagner Ebrahim

#43 Motorcar Racing – Metalmoro JLM AJR / Chevrolet LS3 V8 – Vicente Orige

#46 Mottin Racing – Metalmoro JLM AJR / Chevrolet LS7 V8 – Adriano Baldo / Gustavo Martins / Pedro Castro

#51 – TMC Racing – TMC M1 / Chevrolet V6 Turbo – Tarso Marques

#65 РNC Racing РMetalmoro JLM AJR / Chevrolet LS3 V8 РNilson Ribeiro / Jos̩ Roberto Ribeiro

#80 – Power Imports Racing Team – Metalmoro JLM AJR / Nissan V6 SC – Alexandre Finardi / Rafael Suzuki

#113 – JLM Racing – Metalmoro JLM AJR / Chevrolet LS3 V8 – Pedro Queirolo / David Muffato

#175 РJLM Racing РMetalmoro JLM AJR / Chevrolet LS3 V8 РHenrique Assun̤̣o / Andersom Toso

[DanielVieceli]

As you can see, there will be a variety of cars racing in P1, with the grid dominated by the Metalmoro JLM AJR. This is not by chance, as the AJR is the current car to beat in Brazil, This car is the result of a development made by Juliano Moro, former F3 driver and JLM Racing team principal. Taking advantage of the design freedom of the P1 class, the team had the aero development conducted by British firm Dynamic Flow Solutions, while the chassis and all the manufacturing was done in house at Metalmoro, traditional Brazilian race car and go-kart manufacturer, owned by Juliano’s father, Ademar Moro. Ever since it was launched, the AJR captured the pole position in every race it participated, and is a car that accepts a wide range of engines. In summary, the AJR is a tubeframe prototype with a carbon fiber body, using a Xtrac P1152 LMP3 gearbox and LMP2 spec carbon brakes, while the chassis allow a wide range of engines to be used.

The first ever car used a Honda K20 Turbo engine, but reliability really appeared when the car received a Chevrolet LS3 V8 similar to those used in the Brazilian Stock Cars. These engines are based on the Camaro powerplant, and can produce up to 550 HP in qualify trim, being limited to 450 HP in races to keep reliability and fuel consumption at hand. With the revamp of the rules in 2019 allowing more fuel per stint, the teams started to seek ways to improve power of the V8. Some migrated to Motorcar Racing, a famous engine tuner in Brazil, while Giaffone Racing (the company responsible to build and run all Brazilian Stock Car, engine included) developed an evolution engine called Gen2 for the Endurance Racing. Now power levels range between 600 HP to 700 HP in qualifying trim, with the more powerful car believed to be the #65 car from NC Racing, which uses a custom built LS3 V8 with the displacement enlarged to 6.9 liter and tuned by Motorcar Racing.

Other engines in use/used were:

Audi 2 liter turbo engine in the #46 car of Mottin Racing (now they are expected to bring a Chevy LS7 7 liter engine);

Honda K24 Turbo on the #11 car from Emilio Padron (for 2020 he will switch to a Chevy LS3 by Motorcar);

Nissan VQ35 V6 from the Power Imports Racing Team, initially naturally aspirated and now equipped with a Vortech supercharger;

Chassis wise the AJR received numerous updates, especially in 2019, with the introduction of a new new front wing design, DRS and various aerodynamic bits added throughout the season.

I highly encourage you to read the blog post below (only in Portuguese, but soon to be translated), were I go more in depht through all of the AJR history, technical updates and race results:

https://nivelandoaengenharia.com.br/...lmoro-jlm-ajr/

[DanielVieceli]

Originally Posted by DanielVieceli

As you can see, there will be a variety of cars racing in P1, with the grid dominated by the Metalmoro JLM AJR. This is not by chance, as the AJR is the current car to beat in Brazil, This car is the result of a development made by Juliano Moro, former F3 driver and JLM Racing team principal. Taking advantage of the design freedom of the P1 class, the team had the aero development conducted by British firm Dynamic Flow Solutions, while the chassis and all the manufacturing was done in house at Metalmoro, traditional Brazilian race car and go-kart manufacturer, owned by Juliano’s father, Ademar Moro. Ever since it was launched, the AJR captured the pole position in every race it participated, and is a car that accepts a wide range of engines. In summary, the AJR is a tubeframe prototype with a carbon fiber body, using a Xtrac P1152 LMP3 gearbox and LMP2 spec carbon brakes, while the chassis allow a wide range of engines to be used.

The first ever car used a Honda K20 Turbo engine, but reliability really appeared when the car received a Chevrolet LS3 V8 similar to those used in the Brazilian Stock Cars. These engines are based on the Camaro powerplant, and can produce up to 550 HP in qualify trim, being limited to 450 HP in races to keep reliability and fuel consumption at hand. With the revamp of the rules in 2019 allowing more fuel per stint, the teams started to seek ways to improve power of the V8. Some migrated to Motorcar Racing, a famous engine tuner in Brazil, while Giaffone Racing (the company responsible to build and run all Brazilian Stock Car, engine included) developed an evolution engine called Gen2 for the Endurance Racing. Now power levels range between 600 HP to 700 HP in qualifying trim, with the more powerful car believed to be the #65 car from NC Racing, which uses a custom built LS3 V8 with the displacement enlarged to 6.9 liter and tuned by Motorcar Racing.

Other engines in use/used were:

Audi 2 liter turbo engine in the #46 car of Mottin Racing (now they are expected to bring a Chevy LS7 7 liter engine);

Honda K24 Turbo on the #11 car from Emilio Padron (for 2020 he will switch to a Chevy LS3 by Motorcar);

Nissan VQ35 V6 from the Power Imports Racing Team, initially naturally aspirated and now equipped with a Vortech supercharger;

Chassis wise the AJR received numerous updates, especially in 2019, with the introduction of a new new front wing design, DRS and various aerodynamic bits added throughout the season.

I highly encourage you to read the blog post below (only in Portuguese, but soon to be translated), were I go more in depht through all of the AJR history, technical updates and race results:

https://nivelandoaengenharia.com.br/...lmoro-jlm-ajr/

So, keeping up with the P1 Class cars overview, next we go to the Sigma P1. This car was developed by engineers Pedro Fetter and Evandro Flesch, former students of UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul), that at the time had a go-kart manufacturing company called Sigma Kart, and provided technical support to the MRX prototype of Felipe Bertuol. They had a long dream of building a prototype, but without enough funding to build the first car, they had a hard time finding someone to fund the project. Eventually, they managed to convince Felipe Bertuol and Jindra Kraucher, who provided funds for the development.

Originally, the car most distinctive feature was the powertrain: inspired by Michael Schumacher's drive at the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix, they planned a car without a gearbox, with an engine (Audi 4.2 V8 Turbo) with a very flat torque curve and electric motors providing extra torque for low speed situations. The concept, although feasible, proved to be handful to develop, with an unexpected issue emerging after other was solved. In this configuration the car run only the 2016 12 Hours of Tarumã.

Then, the team decided that it would be too expensive to try to develop the hybrid concept, reverting to a conventional lay out. The Audi 4.2 V8 was retained (now producing around 550 HP) with a Xtrac P1152 gearbox to match. With this changes the car made it's debut at Endurance Brasil in 2018, managing a 6th place in the 2018 3 Hours of Santa Cruz do Sul.

That woud be the cars only race in 2018, returning in 2019 starting from round 2. Compared to 2018-spec, the Sigma P1 received new bodywork panels, a low mount dual elemente rear wing with a 3D profile and revised cooling. However, the car proved to be still lacking compared to the AJR and Ginetta G57 in the P1 class.

Starting from round 5, the team choose to register at P2 class, as the Sigma was built prior to 2018. Without the need to keep up the pace of the AJRs, the engineers could work to solve the small issues that affected the car's reliability, and even running only half season managed to capture the runner up position in the championship. This however, does not mean development was frozen, as the Sigma received updates after being entered in P2, including a rear wing DRS system. At the season finale, the 6 Hours of Curitiba, drivers Aldo Piedade Jr and Jindra Kraucher suffered issues during the qualifying sessions, starting at the back of the grid. However, they decided to go with a more agressive turbo set up, and not only managed to keep up with the AJR, but even to run as high as 4th place. Eventually an issue had them losing some time in the pits, as well as being forced to run a more conservative set up, but neverthless the Sigma team managed a 6th place finish, not only winning P2 but also being the better placed prototype, in a race that proved to be challenging to the P1/P2 cars.

Following the link below you can view a more in depht review of the Sigma P1:

https://nivelandoaengenharia.com.br/...03/sigma-p1-2/

[DanielVieceli]

As you can see, there will be a variety of cars racing in P1, with the grid dominated by the Metalmoro JLM AJR. This is not by chance, as the AJR is the current car to beat in Brazil, This car is the result of a development made by Juliano Moro, former F3 driver and JLM Racing team principal. Taking advantage of the design freedom of the P1 class, the team had the aero development conducted by British firm Dynamic Flow Solutions, while the chassis and all the manufacturing was done in house at Metalmoro, traditional Brazilian race car and go-kart manufacturer, owned by Juliano’s father, Ademar Moro. Ever since it was launched, the AJR captured the pole position in every race it participated, and is a car that accepts a wide range of engines. In summary, the AJR is a tubeframe prototype with a carbon fiber body, using a Xtrac P1152 LMP3 gearbox and LMP2 spec carbon brakes, while the chassis allow a wide range of engines to be used.

The first ever car used a Honda K20 Turbo engine, but reliability really appeared when the car received a Chevrolet LS3 V8 similar to those used in the Brazilian Stock Cars. These engines are based on the Camaro powerplant, and can produce up to 550 HP in qualify trim, being limited to 450 HP in races to keep reliability and fuel consumption at hand. With the revamp of the rules in 2019 allowing more fuel per stint, the teams started to seek ways to improve power of the V8. Some migrated to Motorcar Racing, a famous engine tuner in Brazil, while Giaffone Racing (the company responsible to build and run all Brazilian Stock Car, engine included) developed an evolution engine called Gen2 for the Endurance Racing. Now power levels range between 600 HP to 700 HP in qualifying trim, with the more powerful car believed to be the #65 car from NC Racing, which uses a custom built LS3 V8 with the displacement enlarged to 6.9 liter and tuned by Motorcar Racing.

Other engines in use/used were:

Audi 2 liter turbo engine in the #46 car of Mottin Racing (now they are expected to bring a Chevy LS7 7 liter engine);

Honda K24 Turbo on the #11 car from Emilio Padron (for 2020 he will switch to a Chevy LS3 by Motorcar);
Nissan VQ35 V6 from the Power Imports Racing Team, initially naturally aspirated and now equipped with a Vortech supercharger;

Chassis wise the AJR received numerous updates, especially in 2019, with the introduction of a new new front wing design, DRS and various aerodynamic bits added throughout the season.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by DanielVieceli

As you can see, there will be a variety of cars racing in P1, with the grid dominated by the Metalmoro JLM AJR. This is not by chance, as the AJR is the current car to beat in Brazil, This car is the result of a development made by Juliano Moro, former F3 driver and JLM Racing team principal. Taking advantage of the design freedom of the P1 class, the team had the aero development conducted by British firm Dynamic Flow Solutions, while the chassis and all the manufacturing was done in house at Metalmoro, traditional Brazilian race car and go-kart manufacturer, owned by Juliano’s father, Ademar Moro. Ever since it was launched, the AJR captured the pole position in every race it participated, and is a car that accepts a wide range of engines. In summary, the AJR is a tubeframe prototype with a carbon fiber body, using a Xtrac P1152 LMP3 gearbox and LMP2 spec carbon brakes, while the chassis allow a wide range of engines to be used.

The first ever car used a Honda K20 Turbo engine, but reliability really appeared when the car received a Chevrolet LS3 V8 similar to those used in the Brazilian Stock Cars. These engines are based on the Camaro powerplant, and can produce up to 550 HP in qualify trim, being limited to 450 HP in races to keep reliability and fuel consumption at hand. With the revamp of the rules in 2019 allowing more fuel per stint, the teams started to seek ways to improve power of the V8. Some migrated to Motorcar Racing, a famous engine tuner in Brazil, while Giaffone Racing (the company responsible to build and run all Brazilian Stock Car, engine included) developed an evolution engine called Gen2 for the Endurance Racing. Now power levels range between 600 HP to 700 HP in qualifying trim, with the more powerful car believed to be the #65 car from NC Racing, which uses a custom built LS3 V8 with the displacement enlarged to 6.9 liter and tuned by Motorcar Racing.

Other engines in use/used were:

Audi 2 liter turbo engine in the #46 car of Mottin Racing (now they are expected to bring a Chevy LS7 7 liter engine);

Honda K24 Turbo on the #11 car from Emilio Padron (for 2020 he will switch to a Chevy LS3 by Motorcar);
Nissan VQ35 V6 from the Power Imports Racing Team, initially naturally aspirated and now equipped with a Vortech supercharger;

Chassis wise the AJR received numerous updates, especially in 2019, with the introduction of a new new front wing design, DRS and various aerodynamic bits added throughout the season.

Thanks for taking the time for this write-up, it's much appreciated, especially since it's hard to come by information on this series in English.

[helgi]

Thanks a lot for the insight! Please, keep us informed!

[helgi]

At least old school race tracks do have some limits unlike modern tilkedroms. And it's laws of physics who judge the limits, not some (at times) biased stewards.

[Wilter Will]

Sigma Engenharia managed by engineers Pedro Fetter and Evandro Flesch, announced few updates.

Sigma P1 prototype refuses the V8 turbo engine coupled to the XTRAC gearbox in favor of a inline-4 cylinder 1.550 cc turbo engine with a sequential six-speed gearbox.

The change was motivated by the possibility of reducing the weight of the assembly and given the limitations to engine power imposed by the regulation through fuel consumption.

https://racemotor.com.br/2020/07/27/...e-brasil-2020/

[NSX_LeMans]

Round 1 will be this Saturday, at Interlagos. The race will be live streamed at the official youtube channel


I'm curious to see how fast the P1 will lap this time. Last year the AJR did 1:28 at Interlagos, that is around 3 seconds slower than the Oreca 03R that raced in 2014!

[helgi]

Thanks a lot for the info! Can't wait to watch actual racing!

[helgi]

I've watched the last part of the race and it was quite interesting. Unfortunately, no Marques prototype. And that Sigma looks more aggressive than local P1 but goes surprisingly slow.

[Wilter Will]

I think Sigma didn't fully realize the potential of their new engine. Maybe they just did a reconnaissance in combat. In addition, Metalmoro AJR is a more advanced prototype than Sigma, which is still being developed.

Fingers crossed