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.
The result nonetheless represented the Lion’s first double top ten finish of 2025, but it was, by contrast, a quiet weekend for runaway championship leader Ferrari. The best-placed 499P – the 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning #83 – crossed the finish line eighth, while the two scarlet factory cars could manage no better than 11th and 12th. There was similarly disappointment for reigning Manufacturers’ title-holder Toyota, as for the first time in FIA WEC’s Hypercar era, the Japanese giant failed to score a point.
Much like Cadillac, Lexus has been threatening to steal the show all year, and at Interlagos, the Japanese marque did just that, with José María López, Clemens Schmid and Petru Umbrărescu storming to glory in Akkodis ASP Team’s #87 RC F LMGT3.
“This race was the worst one for us last year, but we learned a lot from that, we knew where to work and the team did an amazing job this weekend,” reflected former world champion López. “If I had to choose a place to win, this would be the one. It’s close to home, and I had my dad and my brothers here, and some friends, so it was very, very special. Of course, I got a drive-through (for pit-lane speeding), but it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t make a little mistake! Fortunately, I had a bit of a gap so we were ok...”
The #81 TF Sport Corvette ultimately prevailed in a multi-car scrap for second, but the crowd’s biggest cheers were reserved for home hero Eduardo Barrichello. Following up on his pole position on Saturday, the Paulista grittily battled his way past the Iron Dames Porsche almost within sight of the chequered flag to clinch a hugely popular podium finish for Racing Spirit of Léman.
Following the traditional summer break, the 2025 FIA WEC campaign will continue with round six – the Lone Star Le Mans at Texas’ Circuit of The Americas – on 5-7 September.
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