At the 6 Hours of São Paulo, the fans celebrated two new winners on the FIA WEC podium: Cadillac and Lexus.
After qualifying for the 6 Hours of São Paulo, it was already clear that the Cadillac squad from Hertz Team JOTA had done its homework for the second half of the season. Starting the race from the first two rows of the grid, the Americans were surprised by Julien Andlauer in the #5 Porsche and lost the lead of the race early on.
Despite the loss of position and a drive-through penalty, Alex Lynn, Norman Nato and Will Stevens fought their way back to the front with the right strategy in the #12 Cadillac. Their teammates Earl Bamber, Jenson Button and Sébastien Bourdais #36 also took on Andlauer and Christensen in the #5 Porsche and secured second place.
Reigning drivers’ world champions Kévin Estre and Lauren Vanthoor finished fourth in their #6 Penske Porsche. Behind them, BMW M Team WRT #20 secured important championship points with fifth place. The two Peugeot hypercars followed in sixth and seventh place. This year’s Le Mans winners in the #83 Ferrari finished eighth, while both works cars missed out on a top 10 finish. Last year’s winners from Toyota Gazoo Racing also failed to score points.
First LMGT3 win for Lexus
Throughout the first half of the season, the Akkodis ASP team showed that they are a force to be reckoned with in the championship. After a strong team performance, José María López, Clemens Schmid and Petru Umbrărescu #87 crossed the finish line in first place in the LMGT3 class and made the first WEC victory for Lexus perfect.
The Corvette team of TF Sport #81 secured second place, ahead of local hero Eduardo Barrichello, who drove his Aston Martin #10 to the LMGT3 podium in the final laps. The Brazilian fans in the grandstands celebrated Barrichello’s podium as if it were a victory.
The complete overview of the 6-hour race in Interlagos can be found here.
After the 6 Hours of São Paulo, the WEC traditionally takes its summer break. The next round of the World Endurance Championship will take place from September 5 to 7 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
Photos © Javier Jimenez, Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI (FIA WEC Press Material)