JOTA Gives Cadillac Maiden WEC Win With Sao Paulo 1-2

Cadillac captured a breakthrough maiden victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship as Will Stevens, Alex Lynn and Norman Nato led a 1-2 finish for the American brand in the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo.

The No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R led home the sister car piloted by Earl Bamber, Jenson Button and Sebastien Bourdais at the end of the six-hour contest at the Interlagos circuit.

The win marked the first time Cadillac won a WEC outright since the manufacturer stepped into the championship in 2023, while also bringing an end to Ferrari’s undefeated streak that had been in place since the season-opening Qatar 1812km.

Although the No. 12 Cadillac started the race from pole position with the No. 38 sister machine in third after a post-qualifying penalty, the two Dallara-chassised LMDh cars spent the opening hour trailing Julien Andlauer’s No. 5 Penske Porsche 963.

However, Andlauer began to lose ground to the Cadillacs in the second hour, with Bamber initially taking over the race lead with a pass around the outside into Turn 1.

Bamber’s newly installed co-driver Button was then jumped by the No. 12 car as it completed a successful undercut, allowing Lynn to assume first place.

The two JOTA entries would that remain in that order for the remainder of the race, with the No. 38 car going on to concede more than one minute to the race-winning No. 12 car.

Andlauer and Michael Christensen completed the overall podium in the No. 5 Porsche, while Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre came home in fourth.

Sheldon van der Linde completed a late overtake on Loic Duval’s No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 to take fifth place, with Peugeot finishing sixth and seventh.

This marked a season-best result for the two French LMH cars, which had previously finished no better than ninth so far this year.

The No. 20 BMW, driven by van der Linde, Rene Rast and Marco Wittmann, was the lone BMW in the top ten after a largely trouble-free run, apart from a drive-through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement.

Its sister No. 15 car, driven by Kevin Magnussen, Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello, was taken out of contention in the first hour after a brake problem cost it 20 laps.

The only other Hypercar runner to suffer a significant problem during the race as the No. 35 Alpine A424, which encountered a hybrid issue that resulted in its finishing the race 42 laps down in last overall.

The No. 83 Ferrari 499P of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson took eighth as part of a difficult day for the Prancing Horse, with the No. 36 Alpine and the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche completing the top-ten.

Both works-entered Ferraris finished outside the top ten, with the No. 51 car serving a late drive-through penalty for contact with the No. 99 Proton Porsche.

Meanwhile, the sister No. 50 Ferrari had its run thwarted by contact with Ben Keating’s No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the third hour, which then required the car’s tail section to be replaced.

For the first time in the Hypercar category’s history, Toyota failed to score points with either of its cars as the pair of GR010 Hybrids endured an anonymous run to 14th and 15th.

The pair of Aston Martin Valkyries crossed the line in 13th and 16th, respectively.

Akkodis ASP, Lexus Take Maiden LMGT3 Victory

In the LMGT3 class, Akkodis ASP Team delivered its and Lexus’ first WEC victory, with Razvan Umbrarescu, Clemens Schmid and Jose Maria Lopez putting in a commanding performance after grabbing the lead in the opening hour.

Umbrarescu passed the pole-sitting No. 10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Anthony McIntosh after 20 minutes, after which the No. 87 Lexus RC F GT3 remained at the front of the LMGT3 class effectively through the entire race.

This was despite a drive-through penalty given to Lopez approaching the halfway point of the race for speeding in the pitlane.

The victory marks the first for both team and manufacturer in WEC, having enjoyed an upturn in form in its sophomore campaign that had previously resulted in a podium finish for the sister No. 78 car at Imola.

The No. 81 TF Sport Corvette of Tom van Rompuy, Rui Andrade and Charlie Eastwood finished second in class while Eduardo Barrichello completed a late pass on Michelle Gatting to take third in the No. 1o Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin he shared with McIntosh and Valentin Hasse-Clot.

Gatting’s No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche, co-driven by Celia Martin and Rahel Frey, finished fourth, with the No. 78 Lexus rounding out the top five in class.