Part One of this progress update with the Sigma P1 designers Pedro Fetter and Evandro Flesch covered the 12 months from the 2025 through 2026 FIA WEC meetings at Interlagos.
Such has been the progress in the few short weeks since then that this Part Two has become necessary.
In particular, there are multiple tales to tell from a spectacularly successful “test weekend” of Sport Protótipos Brasil with six new confirmed sales for late 2026/early 2027 delivery!
Part three meanwhile will cover off the technical stories and details of the pretty G5 EVO version of the Brazilian prototype.
Such was the level of confirmed sales success, and beyond that even further interest in the G5 EVO, that Sigma P1 has pressed the button to confirm an order of 10 new gearboxes from SADEV.
If customer enquiries currently on the books alongside the existing and new confirmed sales are converted, that could mean up to 20 total active Sigmas in Q2 2027.
So how did all of that come to pass?
Homologation!
The first step was a major one for the project – the announcement of our homologation approval.
“It is yet to be published as we retouch some details, but our survival cell has been officially accepted.
“The G5 EVO is the first endurance racing prototype in Brazil to receive a national ASN homologation by CTDN, the Technical Sporting Council of the CBA, presided over by the engineer Eduardo Polati.
“Although it is a stepping stone towards a potential FIA homologation, it is enough to allow the G5 EVO to race in multiple series worldwide without requiring local re-validation. It’s an amazingly big deal for us and a great source of confidence for potential clients!”
And that was before the cars took to the track!
Drive on Wednesday – Sell…. A Bit Later On Wednesday
The weekend at Interlagos started with multiple test drives at a track day event on Wednesday. One driver, right then and there, decided to buy two cars at once: Significantly one for himself, and another for him to rent to other drivers or the series promoter.
That was a reflection of the very low running cost of the car.
This first new buyer, a driver with years of one-make Porsche competition on his CV, immediately saw the potential of the one-make series as a business. Sigma P1 maintains that it is absolutely possible to pay off the purchase of a car in under two seasons of renting, not even considering other special races like the Mil Milhas.
Another buyer, annoyed that his BMW M4 GT3 car took so long to fix every time he had any incident, was so happy after testing the G5 EVO – “Now this is a real race car,” he said, “and for how good it is to drive, it keeps its pace for so long!” He is considering a switch from GT3.
He said the tyres on his GT3 car last only a few laps at optimal grip. The Sigma, on the other hand, kept delivering consistent lap times for the whole stint, and even after 2 hours of track time. “Of course, this is simply a function of the car being much lighter and having greater downforce”, said Evandro, “but it is great to take experienced drivers on that journey to something that they hadn’t yet experienced.”
On Track Catastrophe Turns To Sales Pitch
Pedro Fetter explains an incident that could have spelled disaster – but instead turned into a graphic point of difference and a sales opportunity:
“On Friday, in the very first session, we had some pretty bad luck: a puncture/leak caused a rear-right tyre explosion in one of our cars, right at the famously dangerous Café turn, at over 200 km/h.
“The car spun inwards at high speed and rear-ended diagonally into the hard barrier. The driver was unharmed, but the car was in bad shape.
“Other drivers gathered around as the flatbed unloaded the wrecked car into our box during the red flag. “One less car on the grid, what a shame,” one said.
“Little did they know that we had almost all the spares needed at the track, ran around to local suppliers fixing some parts we didn’t have, and late that same night, at 2am, the car was ready and aligned.
“At 7am the vinyl guys finished re-doing the car’s colourful layout, and it was ready to run the Saturday morning warm-up before the race.
“The total cost of the repair, including some extras and pizza for the crew, was under US$15K, less than a pair of GT3 headlights!”
Those are the sort of comparisons that can see a privateer, or a team, make a decision!
Dabble To Double Purchase
Another driver, the owner of a renowned Porsche/BMW tuner shop, came to test the car, representing a few clients and friends of his who are eager to go a step up from the track days they’ve been consistently performing well in.
He loved the car so much that he confirmed two sales right there, to be shared between him and three of his best clients.
He was there only for the test drive and did not rent a seat for the weekend. In fact, he had just recently received his racing driver licence!
Last Ditch To Sales Pitch
Evandro Flesch: “One of the guys who had a Sigma rented for the weekend asked if we could do one extra race just for him to join: the Road to Mil Milhas 2 Hours of Interlagos, a multi-class Saturday night race. We did a couple of phone calls, gathered a few of our mechanics and went on for the race.
“Their car started last since it didn’t qualify, and quickly rose through the standings. By lap 8 we were leading with a wide margin against a number of older prototypes, while running at normal Sport Prototipo pace, with limited throttle (The G5 EVOs currently operate with a max 58% full throttle to restrict the cars to GT3 lap times).
“At the end of the first hour, though, the car stopped suddenly on the back straight and was towed back to the pits.
“The culprit: some debris had accidentally shut off the external kill switch. We lost some laps, the new driver hopped in, and started his stint trying to gain back some positions while learning the car.
“In the end, we managed to reach a respectable podium with a P5 overall and P2 in class. He was super happy, hugging his family with a big trophy in his hands, in his first ever official endurance race. Needless to say, he’s telling tales of the wonders of the G5 EVO to all his friends and track day WhatsApp groups.”
After that 2-hour endurance night race, this particular car also raced the second 1-hour GT Series race the following Sunday, completing over 210 laps, or almost 7 hours, of solid track time during the weekend.
“So a single weekend changed a somewhat slow year into a crazy rushed second semester,” concludes Pedro. “We have much to build, a lot to deliver, but we feel the series is gaining serious traction. We’re working hard to see how fast we can deliver the first 2 of these 6 cars.”
Pics Fraanklin de Silva
