Cadillac claims first endurance win

Will Stevens, Alex Lynn and Norman Nato led home a Cadillac 1-2 at Interlagos as the US manufacturer notched up its maiden World Endurance Championship victory.

The two Jota-run factory Cadillac V-Series.R LMDhs dominated the Brazilian round of the series in which only Porsche offered a brief challenge in the initial stages of the six-hour race on Sunday.

Nato took the chequered 57s up on the sister car shared by Earl Bamber, Jenson Button and Sébastien Bourdais, which in turn was 1.8s ahead of the best of the Penske factory Porsche 963 LMDhs shared by Julien Andlauer and Michael Christensen.

The winning Cadillac came back from an early penalty for a tyre-pressure infringement to claim the break-through win for Cadillac, a marque that had finished no better than third since joining the WEC in 2023.

Lynn moved into the lead at the second round of pitstops a third of the way through the Sao Paulo 6 Hours.

He had taken over the car seven laps before Bamber handed over to Button, emerging with a 15s lead courtesy of the undercut. Button had four new Michelin tyres compared with Lynn’s two and was able to reduce the deficit to under 10s before the leader extended his advantage over the second half of their double stints.

A lead that stood at just over 20s before the final driver changes grew dramatically after Nato and Bourdais took over their respective Caddys.

As the race unfolded

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Julien Andlauer, Michael Christensen, #12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R: Alex Lynn, Norman Nato, Will Stevens, #38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Sebastien Bourdais, Jenson Button

Photo by: FIAWEC – DPPI

The third-placed Porsche led the early going in Andlauer’s hands.

The Frenchman took the lead on the opening lap and was able to stretch his advantage to as much as 4.5s, but the Cadillac proved superior over a double stint, Bamber and Stevens closing him down as the second round of stops approached.

Bamber got ahead with an around-the-outside move into Turn 1 shortly after Stevens had pitted.

After the stops were complete, Christensen was over a second down on Button, the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry never looking like a contender for victory again.

But Andlauer, on the fresher tyres at the end, was able to close down on Bourdais as the clock counted down. Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre took a distant fourth, a lap down on the winner, in the second of the PPM entries.

Estre had qualified down in seventh, and the two hours it took to clear the pair of Peugeot 9X8 2024 Le Mans Hypercars left it out of contention for a podium.

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen

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BMW took fifth after a late charge from Sheldon Van Der Linde in the M Hybrid V8 LMDh he shared with Marco Wittmann.

The BMW came back from a penalty for speeding under a Full Course Yellow and made it past the best of the Peugeots driven by Loic Duval and Malthe Jakobsen in the closing stages.

The sixth-place Peugeot was followed home by the sister car of Paul di Resta and Mikkel Jensen.

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi

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Ferrari salvaged eighth place for the Le Mans 24 Hours-winning entry shared by Phil Hanson, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye. The 499P LMH proved uncompetitive around the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace after taking a double hit under the Balance of Performance ahead of the race.

Alpine and the Proton customer Porsche team filled out the remainder of the top 10, Mick Schumacher, Frédéric Makowiecki and Jules Gounon heading home Nico Pino, Neel Jani and Nicolás Varrone.

They kept the two factory Ferrari 499Ps out of the points paying positions for manufacturers.

#009 Aston Martin Thor Team Aston Martin Valkyrie: Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen, #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Jules Gounon, Frederic Makowiecki, Mick Schumacher

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The championship-leading entry of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi was running 10th in the final hour before Pier Guidi was penalised for a move on Varrone as they battled for position.

The Italian crossed the line in 11th place after taking a drive-through, one position ahead of the sister car driven by Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina, which lost time to a rear end change after a collision with an LMGT3 car.

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck De Vries

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Toyota failed to get a car home in the points for the first time in the Hypercar era that started in 2021.

The GR010 HYBRID LMH, like the Ferrari, wasn’t in the game around a circuit at which it dominated 12 months previously.

The BoP — it was running heavier and with less power than in 2024 — combined with the resurfacing of the Interlagos circuit that took place ahead of last year’s Formula 1 race combined to remove the advantage it enjoyed in 2024.

Mike Conway, Nyck de Vries and Kamui Kobayashi crossed the line in 14th, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa 15th.

LMGT3 class results

#87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3: Petru Umbrarescu, Clemens Schmid, Jose María Lopez

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In a day of firsts, Lexus took a maiden victory in the LMGT3 class.

Jose Maria Lopez, Clemens Schmid and Razvan Umbrarescu led for the majority of the duration on the way to a 37-second victory that came in spite of a penalty for pitlane speeding.

#33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R: Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar, Daniel Juncadella

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Charlie Eastwood moved the TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R he shared with Rui Andrade and Tom van Rompuy up into second with 10 minutes of the race remaining.

The Chevy factory driver overtook Michelle Gatting in the Manthey-run Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3-R to seal the runner-up spot.

#59 United Autosports Mclaren 720S LMGT3 Evo: James Cottingham, Sebastien Baud, Gregoire Saucy, #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Celia Martin, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting

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Gatting, who was partnered with Rahel Frey and Célia Martin, then lost third with less than three minutes left to Eduardo Barrichello in the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in which he was teamed with Valentin Hasse-Clot and WEC debutant Anthony McIntosh.