Cadillac and Porsche in first row at São Paulo

WECHyperCar

Jul 13

For the first time this season, both official Ferrari 499P did not qualify for Hyperpole but well the #83 from AF Corse. Ferrari could still fool us but we welcome six different manufacturers in the 5 first row for today’s 6 Hours of São Paulo with both Cadillac in first and second row and both Peugeot in second and third rows. Porsche and BMW also got two cars each in the top 10. Toyota got the #8 in P10 and AF Corse the #83 Ferrari in P9..

Cadillac’s back-to-back pole

For the second consecutive FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) race, the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.Rs will have a clear view of the green flag.

The first-year factory team scored the front row for the Rolex 6 Hours of Sāo Paulo like it did last month for the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans BUT was imposed a penalty of a drop of 1 grid position following decision #14 after the qualifying session as follow: “the Stewards determined that at Turn 12, Car 93 was sufficiently impeded by Car 38 toconstitute the offence of impeding. However, the Stewards concluded that the impeding was not the result of a deliberateaction by Car 38. Nevertheless, the driver of Car 38 was in a position to move aside before the braking zone at Turn 12 andshould have done so to allow Car 93 to pass.In view of all the circumstances, the Stewards have decided to impose a penalty of a drop of 1 grid position”

Alex Lynn, who earned the pole at Circuit de La Sarthe, repeated the superlative effort as he drove the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R to the top of the 18-car Hypercar field with a 1:22.829.

The pole is the third for Cadillac Racing in its third season of WEC competition, and the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R is the only Hypercar to qualify in the top 10 of all five races this season.

Alex Lynn: "It feels great to be on pole again. It's a special feeling to drive the Cadillac on one lap. I love being here in Brazil. The Sāo Paulo track is so cool. It's huge a huge honor, and I'm really happy. I think, honestly, our side of the garage has been really confident all week. So, we concentrate on the race now. We knew we were going to be quick, and we were. So now we just focus. It's a good place to start and we just want to race well now.”

Sebastien Bourdais was one-tenth of a second off Lynn’s blistering Hyperpole pace in the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R. The Hypercar entry has qualified in the top 10 in four of the five WEC races, with Earl Bamber collecting the front-row start at Le Mans. Bourdais and Bamber will share the wheel with Jenson Button on Sunday.

Sebastien Bourdais: “Up until Hyperpole, we just had a really difficult weekend. It's just been a succession of little miscues that gave us a couple of wrong reads and I felt like it just kind of threw us a bit down the rabbit hole. A few more tweaks to the setup and it was OK in FP3. So, you go in qualifying, and you have no real idea of what the car is. Plus, traffic was an absolute mess in that first bout of qualifying. Thankfully, we made it to Hyperpole and now you have a better idea of where the car is at, what it’s doing. It just it worked a lot better for me. I still made a mistake and didn't really get that best lap, but you’re always kicking yourself a bit. Very happy for the team. Congrats to Alex and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.” Source: Cadillac Racing

Julien Andlauer in #5 Porsche promoted to P2 on the grid

Both hybrid prototypes of the Porsche Penske Motorsport factory team made it into the Hyperpole session for the top ten in Qualifying. There, Julien Andlauer initially put his number 5 race car on the second row of the grid. With one Cadillac being demoted, he was later promoted to second place. Andlauer did set a time of 1:22.834.

📷© Courtesy of FIA WEC at São Paulo: #5 Porsche 963

Julien Andlauer (Porsche 963 #5): "For our number 5 Porsche, second place on the grid is an even better result as last time out at Le Mans. I'm quite happy with this outcome because we improved very well over the free practice sessions and optimised the performance potential of our 963 over one lap. In terms of lap times, we couldn't beat the two Cadillacs in front of us. It was a lot of fun on the track. But the race is still to come. We will prepare properly and hopefully finish on the podium."

Laurents Vanthoor will start from fourth row as Kevin Estre did set a 1:23.159 in seventh place.

📷© Courtesy of FIA WEC at São Paulo: #6 Porsche 963

Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): "Seventh place on the grid is ok, but not what we wanted to achieve. Pole position was just as out of reach for us today as the third-fastest time for our sister car. We now have to analyse that. But no matter: at least we have a much better grid position than in the previous races of the season. We should be much more competitive in the race, but overtaking is difficult on this track. Nevertheless, we can still achieve a strong result." Source: Porsche

The PEUGEOT 9X8s qualify on the second and third rows!

Team Peugeot TotalEnergies achieved its best qualifying result since early 2023. For his first ever FIA WEC qualifying session, Malthe Jakobsen placed the PEUGEOT 9X8 #94 in fourth position on the starting grid for the 6 Hours of São Paulo.

On his fifth lap, Malthe set the second fastest time of the session with 1:23.208, just 0.4 seconds off provisional pole. The lap before, Paul Di Resta had also posted an impressive 1:23.269 in the #93—third fastest in the session. Just like at Spa-Francorchamps last May, both PEUGEOT 9X8s made it into Hyperpole!

Malthe Jakobsen (PEUGEOT 9X8 #94): “It was my first qualifying session in WEC and I want to thank the team for trusting me and giving me a comfortable and competitive car. I really enjoyed both sessions—it was thrilling to push this Hypercar to the limit with low fuel to go for the best lap possible. Interlagos is a very short track, so it was tricky to get a clear lap in the first session. For Hyperpole, there were eight fewer cars, and I felt great in the car. We finished P4. I'm really satisfied—but the race will be long.”

Paul Di Resta clocked 1:23.101 on his fourth lap, beating the 2024 pole position time. One lap later, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies rookie Malthe Jakobsen set a 1:22.948, the fourth fastest time, just 0.378 seconds off pole!

Paul Di Resta (PEUGEOT 9X8 #93): “My first session went really well. I had some traffic—without it, maybe I could’ve gone for P1. That gave me confidence for the second session, although I had a bit of understeer. P4 and P6 is a great result for the team and should put us in the fight during the early part of the race. With only two drivers per car this weekend, it’s going to be a long and intense day tomorrow!.”

The PEUGEOT 9X8 #94 and #93 will therefore start from the second and third rows on the grid. The start of the 6 Hours of São Paulo is scheduled for Sunday, July 13 at 11:30 a.m. local time (4:30 p.m. French time). Source: Stellantis Communications