13 Jul New winners at Interlagos as Cadillac and Lexus break through in Brazil

New winners at Interlagos as Cadillac and Lexus break through in Brazil

The FIA World Endurance Championship celebrated two new winners at Interlagos today, as Cadillac and Lexus both claimed their breakthrough victories following a sensational showdown in the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo.

In the headlining Hypercar category, Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA finally fulfilled the promise it has shown all season by converting a peerless performance in qualifying into an equally dominant display in the race. 

After Will Stevens and Earl Bamber overhauled early leader Julien Andlauer in the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 – the former in the pit-lane and the latter courtesy of a gutsy on-track pass – the two Cadillac V-Series.R prototypes went on to establish themselves as the 18-strong field in front of a record trackside audience for FIA WEC in Brazil of 84,741 enthusiastic fans.

Despite having to serve a drive-through penalty for a technical infringement, the #12 entry crewed by Stevens – whose wife hails from São Paulo – pole-sitter Alex Lynn and Norman Nato, who celebrated his 33rd birthday earlier in the week, ultimately proved to be unbeatable. 

The trio fought back from their early delay to assert their supremacy and cement Cadillac’s status as the first American brand to triumph in the series, while their success means the race has still never been won from lower than the front row of the grid.

“This is now year number three racing this car, and honestly, seeing what it has become in the hands of JOTA and what the programme has become as well, I’m extremely grateful to be a part of it and honoured to finally win a race in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Cadillac,” enthused Lynn. “This is just the beginning – I think we can achieve everything we dream of with this partnership. The sky’s the limit, and I’m so excited!” 

Bamber – another Cadillac birthday boy, having turned 35 last Wednesday – Jenson Button and Sébastien Bourdais completed a one-two finish for the American manufacturer, after the latter held off a charging Andlauer in the closing stages, with the Porsche-piloting Frenchman and Michael Christensen rounding out the rostrum in third. 

Defending world champions Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor wound up fourth in the #6 Porsche – albeit a lap down on the winning Cadillac – with BMW M Team WRT’s #20 entry saving a set of fresh tyres until the end to vault up to fifth. That catapulted the BMW M Hybrid V8 past the two Team Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 Hypercars, which ran up towards the sharp end throughout but had to settle for sixth and seventh at the flag, the #94 ahead of the #93.

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