Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA stunned the opposition at Interlagos today (12 July) as Alex Lynn stormed to pole position for tomorrow’s Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo – whilst home hero Eduardo Barrichello thrilled the passionate local crowd by doing likewise in LMGT3 with Racing Spirit of Léman.
Cadillac did not consider itself one of the favourites for the top spot heading into the two-part qualifying session in Brazil – that mantle instead fell to Porsche and BMW – but just like he did ahead of last month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, Lynn pulled a sensational lap out of the bag behind the wheel of the #12 V-Series.R to claim pole, the third of his career in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
“Honestly, our side of the garage has been feeling really confident over the last few days,” the Briton acknowledged. “We know we have good speed over one lap and it’s a fantastic feeling to be on pole – I’m super-proud, especially to do it back-to-back with Le Mans and around such a cool track – but the thing for Cadillac is making sure the pace lasts all race. Tomorrow is the day we need to get it right, and we’ve been focusing mainly on that.”
Sébastien Bourdais looked to have made it a second consecutive Cadillac front row lockout in the sister #38 entry, but the Frenchman was penalised for blocking Team Peugeot TotalEnergies’ Paul di Resta and was demoted to third, behind Julien Andlauer in the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 Hypercar, which consequently will begin the race alongside the #38 pole-sitter.
Series rookie Malthe Jakobsen put the other Peugeot 9X8 an impressive fourth on the grid ahead of Sheldon van der Linde in the best-placed of the two BMW M Hybrid V8s, but there was disappointment for championship leader Ferrari.
Recent Le Mans winner Robert Kubica was only able to manage ninth in the #83 entry, with the scarlet 499Ps of Antonio Fuoco (#50) and namesake Antonio Giovinazzi (#51) even further back in 14th and 17th respectively, as the two factory entries missed the Hyperpole top ten shootout altogether.
Similarly, last year’s São Paulo pace-setter Toyota found itself out-of-sorts 12 months on, with Ryō Hirakawa winding up tenth in the #8 GR010 Hybrid and countryman Kamui Kobayashi – the pole-sitter in 2024 – uncharacteristically bringing up the rear of the Hypercar order in 18th.
For the first time since 2009 in world championship competition, the name Barrichello will start on pole position at Interlagos, after Eduardo Barrichello sent the home crowd into rapture by coming out on top in an enthralling four-way fight for the prime spot on the grid in the LMGT3 category.
In only his fifth FIA WEC outing – and second appearance in Hyperpole – the driver affectionately known as ‘Dudu’ produced two laps good enough for first place behind the wheel of the #10 Aston Martin Vantage, although so close was the competition that his margin of supremacy at the end was a mere 0.024s.
“This is probably the best day of my life,” the 23-year-old enthused. “It’s such a special moment for me – I grew up here and I live 20 minutes away. I know the track quite well and I had a good car underneath me, so I just had to do a good lap. It was amazing to do that in front of my family and friends and the home crowd.”
Clemens Schmid and Finn Gehrsitz maintained Akkodis ASP Team’s stellar 2025 form with the Lexus RC F to claim second and third, with teenage sensation Lin Hodenius an excellent fourth in Iron Lynx’s Mercedes.
The Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo will begin at 11:30 local time (16:30 CEST) tomorrow – Sunday, 13 July.
For the full qualifying times, click HERE.
Watch FIA WEC live or on-demand via the official FIA WEC TV app – your full-access pass to the FIA World Endurance Championship including the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans. Don’t miss a moment. For further information, check out the app.
