Is setting the fastest lap of a three-lap sprint by nearly one and a half seconds sufficient to win a motor race at Autódromo José Carlos Pace? As it turns out, no.
German driver Dieter Tögel took overall victory in the brief 12.7-kilometer contest behind the wheel of his BMW CSL, posting a best lap of 1:51.034 and completing the distance in 5:52.986. Michael Menden secured second place in a 1965 Chevrolet Corvette, 1.798 seconds behind, with Ludovic Caron rounding out the podium in his Shelby Daytona Coupe.
The headline statistical anomaly of the afternoon belonged to Fernando Horta in the #87 BMW CSL. After completing the first lap in seventh position, Horta plummeted to twelfth on lap two following an unscripted delay. He responded on the final circuit by setting the absolute fastest lap of the race at 1:49.561—more than 1.4 seconds quicker than race winner Tögel—recovering to finish sixth overall.
Faustão (Guest Track Marshal): Ô loco, meu! He spent lap two driving like a Sunday tourist and lap three trying to warp time itself!
Tögel remained unfazed by Horta's late-race speed, having comfortably managed his margin over Menden across the three laps to secure maximum points in the GTC76 class.
Dieter Tögel (Race Winner): A race is three laps long, not one. The timing screen awards victory for total time, not single-lap theatricality.
Bill Shepherd brought his AC Shelby Cobra home in fourth place ahead of Wolfgang Schachinger, while Antonio Nogueira finished seventh in a Ford Escort RS, less than seven-tenths of a second behind Horta's recovering BMW.
Ps. Wilco
