Cadillac locks front row for 6 hours of Fuji

WECHyperCarLMGT3

Sep 27

Both Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R dominated this afternoon’s Hyperpole. Alex Lynn secured his third pole position of the year with a 1:28.236. Earl Bamber with sister #38 V-Series.R ensured a third qualifying 1-2 in four races for both Cadillacs with a 1:28.675.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. Cadillac V-Series.R #12.

Alex Lynn: “Third pole in four races. Honestly, it was a great feeling. The car was amazing, the team is amazing, and we did the job. I love this kind of scenario, the qualifying. The car is just amazing right now. Let’s go win tomorrow.”

What were you doing to get the lap time out of the car?: “Tires are the key. We’ve been working hard all weekend on outlap and our prep lap and make sure the car is in the right window to deliver the outcome we wanted. The competition has been very, very strong, so with that being said we had to work very hard to give ourselves the chance to be here.”

Almost a half-second clear of the rest of the field. Was that a surprise?: “Yes, because yesterday I didn’t have a good feeling with the car. I thought a couple of other brands looked very fast, and I think we had to revert a little bit to a car that we knew for qualifying. I think we’ve made really big steps to the car in the race, but we went back to sort of our Sao Paulo-type car for qualifying. This morning in FP3 I had a much better felling and confidence.”

Third pole in four races. What is the satisfaction like in the team?: “I think you also push each other a lot. You know the driver on the other side of the garage is going to deliver a lap. You, of course, don’t want to be the second car. It’s just human nature that you want to improve. So, I think we’ve been seeing a little bit of that when it comes to the 12 and 38. The is. A nice, natural competition to improve, and I think that keeps pushing all of us forward.”

Prospects for the race tomorrow? What are you going to be concentrating on?: “I think 12 months on the picture of Cadillac Racing has changed a lot. I would say that today was quite important to get the car up front because I think we have very strong race pace, as well as other cars. But I do feel confident we have good race pace and can race at the front for the whole six hours. Today was a big job to put ourselves in a good position and tomorrow we I think we can have a good race.”

Earl Bamber was nearly as quick in the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, V-Series.R, putting the sister car second with a best lap of 1:28.675 to make it an impressive Cadillac 1-2 for the third time this season.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. Cadillac V-Series.R #38

Earl Bamber: “Really good for the team, another front row lockout. Mega lap for Alex. Outside of the garage we keep building and building. We managed to get quite close to the front in Austin from starting from the back, so here I think we can manage to race. The Caddy was good last year, and I think we’ll be good again. Hopefully, we can get solid points for the manufacturer championship. (Keys to race) I think staying in clean air and managing the tire deg as well will be really critical. We have good knowledge, do a few tweaks tonight and see what we got.” Source: Cadillac Racing

Aston Martin third

Three-time FIA WEC GT champion Marco Sørensen delivered a breathtaking lap to break into the Hyperpole session as the fastest qualifier. The Dane delivered two highly competitive laps in the Hyperpole session (a 10-minute shoot-out for the top ten qualifiers) which placed him third overall; his 1m28.705s lap was ultimately just 0.030s shy of a front position for Round 7 of the 2025 WEC season.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. #009 Aston Martin Thor Team Valkyrie

“The first objective was to get into Hyperpole,” said Sørensen. “Then when we did that I was like, ‘I really want pole’. So, when we ended up only third, I was a little bit disappointed! Now if we can get everything in the right place for the race, put together the right strategy, make the right tyre choices, we should be on for a good result.

“Everything has been getting progressively better for the last three races, and we’ve taken some good steps forward. Now we are find ourselves in the real fight and we’re not having to look for crazy amounts of time to get to the front. If you look at where we were in Qatar and compare it to where we are now, it’s amazing, and that’s down to how hard the team is working and how much the car is improving. I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment.”. Source: Aston Martin

Peugeot fourth

For his first qualifying session of the season, Mikkel Jensen placed the PEUGEOT 9X8 #93 on the second row of the starting grid for the 6 Hours of Fuji. The Danish driver completed an impressive series of laps around the Fuji Speedway (4.563 km) in under 1’29”, ultimately securing the fourth-fastest time in the Hyperpole session with 1:28.716.

Mikkel Jensen (PEUGEOT 9X8 #93): “It was a fairly tricky qualifying session. We know that in qualifying, the first objective is to finish in the top 10 to make it to Hyperpole, so you have to push while staying safe. In Hyperpole, I couldn’t get my tires into the optimal operating window at the right time to extract the maximum performance. I could have achieved P2 or P3. We’re in the top 5, which should help us avoid potential incidents in the pack at the start — that’s the most important thing.” Source: Peugeot Sport

BMW fifth

Sheldon van der Linde round the top 5 in the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 with a 1:28.854.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Fuji Speedway. BMW M Team WRT #20 BMW M Hybrid V8

Aston Martin and McLaren locks two first rows of LMGT3

Eduardo Barrichello qualified #10 Racing Spirit of Leman’s Aston Martin Vantage for the second time this season in pole position of LMGT3 with a 1:39.981.

Both United Autosports’ McLarens qualified second and third with Sean Gelael’s #95 setting a 1:40.011, ahead of the Sebastien Baud’s #59 with a 1:40.013. Heart of Racing’s #27 Aston Martin Vantage was fourth quickest.

Barrichello: “We’ve been a little down on straight-line speed, so we had to be smart in the Hyperpole session. The #27 crew were kind enough to work with us and give us a tow, two laps for them and two laps for us. It works perfectly with two Aston Martins in the top four! Tomorrow, I think we have a strong car, Tony has been great, I’ve done my part and Val always delivers, so I’m confident we can fight for a strong result.” Source: Aston Martin

Race Schedule: 11:00 – 17:00 – Race (4:00 – 10:00 CEST)