Weekend Motorsports Preview: WEC in Brazil

It is another light weekend for international racing, but one race makes up for it - the return of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The FIA WEC has not had a race since the 24 Hours of Le Mans 10 weeks ago, and it is great to finally see the sports cars back on track. 

In other sports car racing news, the American Le Mans Series and IndyCar Series are splitting the weekend at the Baltimore road course. The ALMS cars will race on Saturday, and the IndyCar Series takes to the streets on Sunday. 

If you are into motorcycle racing, there is the MotoGP British Grand Prix from Silverstone.

FIA World Endurance Championship

After a 10-week wait, the WEC cars return to racing for the São Paulo 6 Hours at Interlagos. The race starts at 12:00pm local time on Sunday, September 1, around the 4.3km, 15-corner track. Qualifying will be held on Saturday from 2:35pm to 3:00pm for the GT cars and from 3:10pm to 3:35pm for the prototypes.

There are 28 total entries for the race - four in LMP1, nine in LMP2, seven in GTE Pro and eight in GTE Am.

With ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
4570 photos
10 videos
only entering one car for the rest of the season, it basically guarantees that Audi will win the manufacturers championship. In terms of individual cars, the #8 ToyotaToyota TS030 HYBRIDJapan, 2012 > present5 photos
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trails the #2 AudiAudi R18 e-tron quattroGermany, 2012 > present8 photos
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by a single point, so in that sense the championship is far from over. 

The points are just as close in the LMP2 class with the two OAK Racing cars and Pecom Racing at the top of the standings but separated by six points among the three cars. 

Porsche'sPorsche 911 RSRGermany, 2013 > present6 photos
strong performance at Le Mans went from it being at the back of the GTE Pro standings to being the leader. Porsche has a three-point lead over Aston MartinAston Martin Vantage GTEUnited Kingdom, 2012 > present4 photos
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in second with 71 points, and AF CorseFerrari 458 Italia GTCItaly, 2011 > present5 photos
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is in third with 60 points. 

In GTE Am, IMSA Performance MatmutPorsche 911 GT3 RSRGermany, 2011 > present10 photos
leads with 64 points, but Larbre CompetitionChevrolet Corvette C6.RUnited States of America, 2012 > present3 photos
is a close second with 63 points. 8 Star Motorsports trails in third with 56 points. 

With the points so close in all of the categories, there is sure to be fierce competition in all of the classes.

NASCAR

NASCAR has a night race at Atlanta Motor Speedway at 7:30pm ET on Sunday, September 1. The cars will complete 325 laps around the 1.54-mile track.

Jimmie Johnson remains the series leader with an 18-point lead over Clint Bowyer in second.