As in 2025, there will be an Aston Martin Vantage at the front of the LMGT3 class grid for Sunday’s 6 Hours of São Paulo, courtesy of a stunning Hyperpole performance by ‘super-sub’ Kobe Pauwels at Interlagos today (11 July).
The rising Belgian star had already impressed behind the wheel of Heart of Racing Team’s #23 entry in the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship’s curtain-raising contest at Imola, and after rookie Bronze-rated driver Gray Newell produced an excellent display to comfortably advance to the Hyperpole top ten shootout, Pauwels would prove unbeatable.
In just his second FIA WEC appearance, the former rallycross racer posted not just one but two laps good enough to grab the top spot in the fiercely-contested, production-based category, duly securing British brand Aston Martin’s 72nd pole position across all categories – a new series record.
“Our pace was pretty strong when we did our qualifying simulation in FP2, so we knew if we got through to Hyperpole, we would be competitive,” reflected Pauwels, “but to be this competitive and on pole by almost two tenths-of-a-second, I didn’t expect that.
“The team gave me such a mega car that was an absolute pleasure to drive, and a clear indication of when the tyres would be at their peak. I knew they would be at their best on my second ‘push’ lap, and I nailed every corner – each one felt like perfection. Obviously there’s still a long race to go tomorrow, but I’m super-happy with this outcome for my first FIA WEC Hyperpole session.”
Pauwels’ stellar effort represented the fastest-ever LMGT3 lap around the legendary Autódromo José Carlos Pace, and Aston Martin’s first consecutive pole positions since Le Mans and São Paulo last year – the iconic marque’s sixth in LMGT3.
On what has been a strong weekend for Iron Lynx, fellow young gun Lin Hodenius put the #79 Mercedes-AMG entry second on the grid – 0.199 seconds adrift of the benchmark time – with Clemens Schmid winding up third in last year’s Interlagos-winning #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus.
Team WRT’s Parker Thompson in fourth and Ben Tuck for Proton Competition in fifth both ended up within a hundredth-of-a-second of the Austrian’s effort, with Rui Andrade in the second Mercedes rounding out the top six.
Further down the order, Ben Keating put the championship-leading #33 TF Sport Corvette 12th on the grid, while neither of the VISTA AF Corse Ferraris nor Garage 59 McLarens progressed beyond the opening part of the session, in company with the #78 Lexus, runner-up at Le Mans last month.
Check out the full Qualifying and Hyperpole results.
The Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo will get underway at 11:30 local time (GMT-3) on Sunday, 12 July.
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