Cadillac secured its first win in the FIA World Endurance Championship with a commanding 1-2 finish in the six-hour race in Sao Paulo. The No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R, managed by Jota and driven by Alex Lynn, Norman NATO, and Will Stevens, played a crucial role. With Ferrari and Toyota not competing at the front, the competition quickly narrowed to a three-way battle between the two Cadillacs and the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 driven by Julian Andrauer and Michael Christensen.
Andrauer made a strong start, seizing the Porsche lead from second on the grid. However, Stevens, starting from pole position in the No. 12 Cadillac, fell back to third after receiving a drive-through penalty for a tire breach. This allowed Bamber in car number 38 to move up. By the race’s second hour, both Cadillacs had surpassed Andrauer. Eventually, Bamber overtook Porsche, propelling car No. 38 into the lead.
Just before driver changes, Stevens pitted early and managed an undercut, allowing Lynn to take over the No. 12 Cadillac and leap ahead of car No. 38. Despite car No. 38 holding a fuel advantage, both Cadillacs pitted close together at the race’s end, with No. 12 ultimately securing track position. NATO drove the No. 12 Cadillac home, completing General Motors’ top-two finish. This marked Jota’s second WEC win, following last year’s victory at the six-hour Spa race with a customer Porsche 963.
Andrauer pushed hard in the final stages but settled for third place with the best Porsche, as only three cars finished on the lead laps. The No. 6 Porsche, driven by Lawrence Vantor and Kevin Esther, climbed from seventh to fourth despite incurring a five-second penalty for a pit lane violation.
Sheldon van der Linde, Rene Rast, and Marco Wittmann overcame a drive-through penalty for a full-course yellow violation, with van der Linde securing his position by overtaking Loic Duval’s No. 94 Peugeot 9×8 late in the race. Duval, along with teammates Mar Jacobsen and Stoffel Vandorn, achieved Peugeot’s best finish of the season in sixth place. Peugeot’s other car, the No. 93, driven by Jean Eric Vergne, Paul Di Resta, and Mikkel Jensen, completed the points in seventh.
Ferrari’s winning streak in the WEC came to an end in Brazil. The Le Mans-winning No. 83 Ferrari 499P, fielded by AF Corse, finished eighth in the hypercar category. Mick Schumacher piloted the No. 36 ALPM A424 to ninth, co-driven by Frederick Makowiecki and Jules Gounon, while the No. 99 Yoko Porsche, with Nico Barone, Neel Jani, and Nico Pino, secured the final points. The best factory Ferrari LMH was the No. 51 entry, leading the championship with Alessandro Piaggi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi. The No. 50 Ferrari dropped to 12th after contact with Ben Keating’s No. 33 Corvette Z06 GT3.
Toyota struggled more than Ferrari, with both GR010 hybrids retiring early on laps 14 and 15, a disappointing result after last year’s dominant performance.
In the LMGT3 category, Toyota’s sister brand Lexus dominated. The No. 87 ASP Lexus RC F GT3, driven by Jose Maria Lopez, Clemens Schmidt, and Razvan Umbrarescu, won decisively by over 30 minutes. Umbrarescu overtook the pole-sitting No. 10 Racing Spirit Aston Martin Vantage GT3 at the start and never relinquished the lead.
While Lexus led comfortably, the battle for second was intense. Charlie Eastwood narrowly held off Michelle Gatting to secure second place in the No. 81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Home favorite Eduardo Barrichello finished third for Aston Martin, with teammates McIntosh and Valentin Hasse-Clotte in fourth. Gatting ended up fourth in the No. 85 Iron Dams Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside Sarah Bovy and Laurens Vanthoor.
Fan Take: This landmark win for Cadillac shakes up the established order in endurance racing, signaling an exciting new era of competition at the top. For racing fans, it means a fresh rivalry and added unpredictability, both of which are essential for keeping the sport thrilling and dynamic.
