System Nippon and SUPER GT champion de Oliveira was drafted in to hitch the Vanwall workforce for the fifth spherical of the WEC season alongside Esteban Guerrieri and Tristan Vautier when Tom Dillmann elected to stop the ByKolles-run outfit.
De Oliveira stated final yr after profitable his second title in SUPER GT’s GT300 class for Kondo Racing that he hoped to have the ability to take part in additional races outdoors of Japan in a bid to flee his “consolation zone”.
And now, having whet his urge for food for worldwide competitors at Monza, the 42-year-old says that the arrival of the LMGT3 class within the WEC subsequent yr may present extra probabilities to check himself towards world-class opposition.
“Actually talking, the extent I see there [in WEC] is sort of excessive,” de Oliveira informed Motorsport.com. “And that’s additionally in LMP2 and GTE, not solely Hypercar.
“I like that, and it makes me need to be sharper and work more durable, to enhance myself. I wish to have that problem.
“For subsequent yr, the arrival of GT3 vehicles creates one other window of alternative, to do large occasions like Le Mans and Daytona. That’s the route I’m . Hypercar shall be tough to discover a seat, however to race in GT3 I feel is lifelike.”
De Oliveira defined that his first race outing for Vanwall was marred by braking points within the sizzling situations at Monza, which required the Vandervell 680 LMH’s brake ducts to be cleared throughout pitstops.
The time misplaced within the course of restricted the Brazilian and his team-mates to twentieth general, behind eight of the LMP2 runners.
“It’s very robust leaping right into a automotive you aren’t acquainted with mid-season,” recalled de Oliveira. “I did one take a look at final yr [at Barcelona] however I did not run a lot, and the automotive has modified since then. I didn’t know the observe both.
“There was a difficulty with the automotive in FP2 so we didn’t run in that session, so we solely had two classes to divide between three drivers. Earlier than the race I had in all probability carried out lower than 20 laps, and by no means with a full tank.
“My objective was to only not do something foolish and assist the workforce. I used to be on the identical tempo as Tristan and Esteban, so I used to be proud of the job I did and I had enjoyable.”
De Oliveira has already been confirmed to be participating in subsequent month’s Fuji WEC spherical with Vanwall, however won’t be out there for the Bahrain season finale because of a conflict together with his SUPER GT commitments.
On his prospects for Fuji, a observe the place he has already raced twice this yr, de Oliveira stated: “I at all times had in my thoughts that Monza could be a studying weekend, and that the objective could be to utilise a few of that at Fuji.
“I don’t anticipate we’re going to be instantly combating the opposite Hypercars, as a result of we had been two or three seconds off the tempo at Monza, however I ought to be way more tailored and comfy.”