First win for Cadillac after three years of racing

WECHyperCar

Jul 14

For the first time after three years of racing in Hypercar, Cadillac wins a FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) race and a 1-2 finish in the 6 Hours of São Paulo.

Cadillac’s double

The #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R driven by Alex Lynn, Norman Nato and Will Stevens took the checkered flag of the Rolex 6 Hours of Sāo Paulo with the sister No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R driven by Earl Bamber, Sebastien Bourdais and Jenson Button following in second place for another first in program and WEC history – the first 1-2 by a U.S. manufacturer in the LMP1/Hypercar class.

📷© Courtesy of FIA WEC at São Paulo: #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R and #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R

In its third season of WEC Hypercar competition, Cadillac Racing’s previous best result was third in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023 with Lynn, Bamber and Richard Westbrook sharing the driving duties. JOTA Sport, in its first season as a factory program and celebrating its silver anniversary in motorsports, previously won at Spa-Francorchamps in 2024 with another manufacturer.

It was a dominating performance by the twin hybrid Cadillacs and their respective crews, including Stevens setting the fastest lap of the race (1:24.498) on Lap 3.

Lynn started on pole in the 18-car Hypercar field for the second consecutive race, with the top spot at Circuit de la Sarthe in June another first for Cadillac and the first for a U.S. brand since 1967. Bourdais had qualified second in Hyperpole – only 0.100 of a second arrears – but was docked on spot on the starting grid because of a stewards’ decision for impeding another car in the 12-minute qualifying session.

The #12 and 38 ran 1-2 for extended periods throughout the race. Combined, the Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entries led 165 of 242 laps.

📷© Courtesy of FIA WEC at São Paulo: winning #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R with Will Stevens, Alex Lynn, and Norman Nato.

Alex Lynn: “Honestly, this is now year number three of me racing this car and year number four of driving it. And, personally, it's a huge sense of satisfaction. You know, it's been a huge journey with Cadillac and to finally win a race of the WEC Championship is special. It's been a lot of hours driving the car and a lot of hours working on it and it means everything.”

Norman Nato: It’s honestly quite impressive, like the progress we're doing. Since Imola, we keep improving. Fourth at Le Mans was good; obviously, we want more. Le Mans was already quite a strong performance for such a new team that we are in today. One, two, with the two Cadillacs and first win for myself as well. Cadillac and JOTA have been working on this car for already some years and for everyone involved in this; to have this kind of moment today is special It's just the beginning. We're going to keep pushing, but big thanks for everyone. We’re going to enjoy this one.”

Will Stevens: “Honestly, it's just amazing for everyone in this program. Obviously, to get Cadillac’s first win for us in the 12 car is pretty special. But, obviously, for us as JOTA as well and carrying on the tradition of getting wins every year, I think super special. So, this is only the beginning of a long program we have together. A goal for this year was to obviously make sure we win a race, but we have even bigger aspirations to keep on winning races and tick off the big boxes that we want to take in this program. So very special.”

📷© Courtesy of FIA WEC at São Paulo: #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R

Jenson Button: “It's been a very emotional year in terms of a roller coaster, but to finally get a one-two for this amazing team is special. Really proud of everyone. They've worked so hard. The partnership between JOTA and Cadillac just shows how we've gelled and we're one big family. Well done to the 12 car for the win … untouchable. But I enjoyed it out there. The car worked really well and it's the best cars I’ve had all year. So, long may it continue and congratulations to Cadillac and Hertz Team JOTA.” Source: Cadillac Racing

A new WEC podium for Porsche

After second place at Le Mans, the Porsche Penske Motorsport factory team also finished the 6-hour race in Sao Paulo with a top-three result. Julien Andlauer and Michael Christensen thus achieved their best result of the season. Laurens Vanthoor and Kévin Estre finished fourth on the Brazilian Grand Prix circuit..

Julien Andlauer was able to attack the Cadillac, on the second lap and overtake it shortly afterwards with a spirited manoeuvre. The #5 Porsche 963 thus took the lead and built up a small advantage.
Shortly before the two-hour mark, Andlauer came under pressure from the two Cadillac of Team Jota, who were able to take the lead despite his fierce resistance. This remained the case in the middle phase of the fifth race of the season, when Michael Christensen took the wheel. It was only in the final phase, when the already low tarmac temperatures dropped below 25 degrees Celsius, that the #5 Porsche came more strongly to the fore again. An exciting chase broke out in the final hour of the race, in which Andlauer was able to reduce a gap of a good eight seconds to less than a second at times – but an attack on second place was not to happen.

Michael Christensen (Porsche 963 #5): "Third place is a good result for us. We did our best, but the Cadillacs were simply faster than us today. Julien got off to a great start and took the lead. However, we were unable to defend first place over the distance. We can be satisfied with our performance, even though our expectations are obviously different. Looking at the season so far, the development is pointing in the right direction: we are getting stronger and stronger."

Laurens Vanthoor started the race in the #6 sister car. The Belgian initially lost one position, but quickly made up two places. After the changeover to Kévin Estre, the #6 Porsche 963 initially continued to run in sixth position. At the halfway point of the race, the two reigning FIA World Endurance Champions were in fourth place and defended this result to the finish.

📷© Courtesy of FIA WEC at São Paulo: Pit stop and rivers change for #6 Porsche

Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 963 #6): "Fourth place is probably the best we could achieve today. The starting phase was very difficult because we first had to fight our way through the traffic. After that, there was already quite a gap to the front that we couldn't close, because the Cadillac was simply the fastest car today." Source: Porsche

BMW M Team WRT secured fifth place

René Rast, Sheldon van der Linde, and Marco Wittmann delivered strong performances with the #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8 both in qualifying, where they achieved fifth place, and in the 6-hour race, ending sixth.

The #20 BMW consistently remained in the front midfield but was slightly set back by a drive-through penalty. In the final stint, van der Linde closed the gap to the Peugeot ahead and secured fifth place with an impressive overtaking manoeuvre shortly before the finish.

📷© Courtesy of FIA WEC at São Paulo: #20 BMW Hybrid V8

René Rast (BMW M Team WRT, #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, 5th place): "We can be satisfied with the result. It was a calm weekend. We got the maximum out of it; there wasn’t more in it. Our pace wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but we were error-free and had a good strategy. Overall, it’s fine, but unfortunately, we were still a bit too slow this time.". Source: BMW Group