Clemens Schmid with Petru Umbrărescu and José María López | Credit: DPPI
Clemens Schmid returns to DIVEBOMB to share his story of becoming the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC)’s latest LMGT3 winner at the 6 Hours of São Paulo.
Hyperpole shock
In the previous interview, Schmid and his co-drivers secured a hard-fought fifth place at Le Mans with the No. 87 Lexus RC F GT3. They were aiming for a stronger finish in Brazil to keep their momentum.
ASP dictated the first free practice session with a 1–2, and they continued to set competitive lap times in the following sessions.
The team advanced to the Hyperpole thanks to Umbrărescu’s effort. Still, they were denied pole position by home hero Eduardo Barrichello in his No.10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin by just 0.024s.
Schmid drove the No.87 car in Hyperpole, and he was surprised that they missed out on pole by such a small margin. The 34-year-old said he could have taken pole had he stayed on the left-hand side of the finish line straight. Nonetheless, he welcomed a front-row start.
The No.87 Lexus | Credit: DPPI
Schmid said: “The reaction was a crying and laughing face at the same time.
“We were a bit surprised that we were so close to pole position, but if you’re missing it by such a tiny margin, it’s a bit annoying.
“I could have done one corner a little bit differently and gained this lap time if I had stayed completely on the left-hand side on start finish, I would have gained more time to be in pole position, but on the other side, we were thinking we would end up around P3 to P5.
“So actually it was nice for us to be in the front row.”
Umbrărescu’s “sensational” start
Umbrărescu was the leading No.87 man as Bronze drivers are required to start the race, per the regulations. The Romanian driver was briefly overtaken by United Autosports’ No.95 McLaren before taking back second place and chasing the No.10 Aston Martin car.
Umbrărescu started the race for the No.87 car | DPPI
After 20 minutes of driving, the 32-year-old took the LMGT3 class lead and began to build up a healthy advantage over his rivals. Schmid praised Umbrărescu’s sensational start and his second stint with a used set of tyres.
“Basically, it was the groundwork.
“Petru did a sensational job there, and with this advantage we had, we kept it for the whole race, more or less.
“What was even more important [is that] he was able to keep [driving] with the used tyres on the second stint, [and showed] incredible pace when other teams were putting in a pro driver on the old tyres. And then again, [when] the bronze driver[s] [were fitted] with new tyres.”
The No.87 crew enjoyed a strategic advantage over their peers thanks to Umbrărescu. With a widening gap to the other cars, the team had more flexibility in terms of strategy. Schmid also joked that whatever Umbrărescu had for breakfast must be amazing.
“We had the strategy advantage to have Petru’s driving time done with the first two stints and even on the used tyres.
“So from then on, we were a lot more flexible and we could push a bit harder than most of our opponents.
“And I have to say, I don’t know what Petru had for breakfast there, but it was amazing. He did a sensational job.”
López’s show of strength
López jumped into the car next and set a string of fast laps and overtook Arnold Robin in the sister No.78 car. At the over two-hour mark, the Argentinian driver had a nine-second lead, and 30 minutes later that gap had grown to 30 seconds.
Schmid explained that all of the team’s free practice programmes were focused on giving the drivers the best setup to keep the front-right tyre alive.
“We were working all [of the] free practice sessions only for the race.
“Our main target was to find a setup where we keep the front-right tyre alive. And that was everything we did in the free practice sessions.
“To see how far we can go, [and figuring out] what’s the maximum we can do.”
The No.87 had a massive advantage over its rivals during López’s stint | Credit: DPPI
Schmid argued that when López took over the car from Umbrărescu, he was continuing his work and got to show his skills and experience when the field was predominantly filled with Bronze drivers.
“When José was in the car and extended that lead, that was basically the work from Petru.
“Because Petru was doing his double stint at the beginning.
“And then when José jumped into the car, he was driving against only Bronze drivers, and he had fresh tyres and his opponents were Bronze drivers. So there he could show the difference.”
The penalty and tyre conservation
López eventually came into the pits, where Schmid took over the car. The Austrian received what he assumed was bad news, but only for his race engineer to remind him that the gap was significant.
“I left the pit lane, and immediately got the call from my engineer that we are getting a drive-through for speeding from José.
“And the first moment I was, ‘oh ****, it’s going to hurt us a lot,’ but then my engineer was telling me that our advantage is so big that we are still staying in front.
“And as I was driving on the used tyres from José in the first stint, my only target was to keep the tyres alive to have a consistent lap time. So I didn’t try to push for one fast lap.”
Schmid had to conserve the tyres since they had taken quite a bit of damage during López’s earlier stint and needed to continue managing the gap with the cars behind.
“I tried to manage the tyres.
“I knew from the amazing pace José was doing that my tyres were for sure a little bit more hurt and damaged than the others, [and there was a] Bronze guy who was doing one more stint on a fresh set of tyres.
“So yeah, my only target was then to keep the tyres alive until the pit stop and to manage the gap to the cars behind.”
Schmid’s thoughts on Interlagos
This was Schmid’s first time racing at Interlagos. He was originally meant to drive here last year with the No.78 car, had it not been withdrawn after Robin sustained a heavy crash in FP1.
He claimed he enjoyed “old-school” tracks like these since it has tarmac, grass and walls, not to mention the runoff areas, which are not as large as in Europe.
“I really like the track because it’s a bit old-school, especially the tarmac, grass and wall.
“So the runoff areas are not like the most modern European circuits, where you have huge runoff areas with tarmac. And I really like this old-school [style].
The No.87 car leads its sister car and the other LMGT3 cars | Credit: DPPI
Schmid was quite surprised by the elevation changes in Interlagos and enjoyed racing in straightforward old-school tracks when it came to track limits. For comparison, he chose the Lusail Circuit, which does not punish the drivers’ mistakes as much due to its huge runoff area.
“And also the up and down, I have to say, I was quite surprised how much it is.
“I would prefer more like this old-school circuit, where there’s no discussion or no big discussion about track limits, where you’re basically on or off the circuit.
“It was a really nice experience, and I really would prefer more like this old school circuits than the new ones like Qatar, where you have huge runoff areas where you make a mistake and it doesn’t hurt you.
“I mean, the circuit in Qatar is nice to drive. But I would like to have track limits which hurt you if you make a mistake.”
Goodyear’s new hard compound
This round saw the introduction of the new Goodyear hard compound for the LMGT3 teams. The new set could last two stints, and Schmid enjoyed its durability.
“It felt really good, especially [since] we knew from last year that with the medium compound, the team was struggling a lot.
“So we were actually surprised how long the hard compound was holding and the pace we could go throughout the stint. I think for our car, it was the right choice, and I would prefer to have this compound every weekend.”
A big reward for the hard-working crew
The victory in São Paulo was very special as it was Schmid, Lexus and the ASP team’s first win in the WEC.
Schmid answered this question fondly when asked how it felt to execute a clean race weekend and dominate a very competitive LMGT3 class. At one point, he recalled that López triggered a false alarm on the radio to keep the team awake and alert.
Schmid, Umbrărescu and López celebrating their victory | Credit: DPPI
“I have to say it was an amazing feeling.
“The last half an hour, we were a bit nervous, especially when José was saying on the radio [that] he had heard some strange noise. I think it was more to make us nervous than it was a real serious issue.
“It was really satisfying [because] the team is working so hard. Especially in Le Mans, I could see how hard everybody is working there.”
The ASP crew members celebrating their victory in the garage | Credit: DPPI
The victory was even sweeter for the team as they accomplished it with older machinery. The Lexus held its own against the more modern GT3 rivals, especially against the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), which had a huge advantage when it came to tyre degradation.
“We knew [that] it’s a little bit more challenging for us with the car we have.
“The others are a lot more modern, especially the Porsche [which] has such a huge advantage on the tyre degradation compared to our car.
“I can’t describe how much the guys deserved this win. A few were crying. It was an amazing feeling to give them some reward for their hard work they’re putting in.”
The future of the programme
Lexus now has victories from their IMSA and WEC programmes. The momentum is with the Japanese manufacturer with this victory and a string of podiums with Vasser Sullivan Racing this season.
Schmid was grateful to be part of the winning crew. He knew the RC F GT3 had the potential to win at least one race this year, and the race in Brazil was an example of operational excellence.
“We knew we had the car to at least win one race.
“Before Brazil, we made some operational mistakes or driving mistakes. So yeah, it was amazing to be part of the winning crew.
“And we all did our best. I think the approach we had for the weekend in Brazil [was] to focus only on the tyre degradation, something where we can move forward.”
Toyota showcased a camouflaged car at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, touted as the GT Racing concept. The car is presumed to be the successor to the RC F GT3.
The camouflaged Toyota GT concept and its racing version on display at the 2025 Goodwood FoS | Credit: @toyota via Instagram
Schmid was unsure whether the team would race with the new car next season or stick with the RC F. Nonetheless, he would be excited at the prospect of driving a new car since he was curious how the proposed car would handle.
“Hmm, if next year [we use] the new car, I’m quite curious how it will handle.
“Let’s see how we are going on. If we are still going with the Lexus or with the new car. That’s something Toyota can answer you as I’m not in the process at the moment.”
