Cadillac Dominates Brazil WEC From Porsche
Maiden Wins For Cadillac, Lexus as Ferrari, Toyota Struggle
Cadillac ultimately dominated the World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Interlagos in Brazil on Sunday. Will Stevens, Alex Lynn and Norman Nato thundered to a maiden WEC win for the brand. They led teammates Earl Bamber, Jenson Button and Sébastien Bourdais home to a compelling V-Series.R LMDh 1-2. It was another maiden LMGT3 victory for Lexus. Jose Maria Lopez, Clemens Schmid and Razvan Umbrarescu stormed to a just as compelling GT win.
The two factory Penske Porsche 963 LMDhs chased home in second and third, while Sheldon van der Linde stole fifth for BMW from the two Peugeot 9X8s in the dying stages. In a race likely to be remembered as much for Cadillac’s great win as it will the WEC’s deepening Balance of Performance fiasco, the Le Mans winning yellow Ferrari 499 struggled home a distant eighth, with the red factory cars and both Gazoo Toyotas well out of the points.
Cadillac had stolen its second front row lock-out on the trot after Le Mans in qualifying only for a penalty on the second car to allow the 5 Porsche onto the front row. The Porsche then snatched the lead early on the opening lap and soon opened up a five second lead. The Cadillacs however fought back to put the Porsche under pressure when Lynn locked up and dived straight into the pits to replace his flat spotted tires.
An Historic Cadillac 1-2 in Brazil
That put the 12 Cadillac out of sync with the rest and into a space that perhaps help the cat find it easier to deal with the traffic, for when it all panned out, Stevens, Lynn and Nato found themselves in a sizeable lead over Sebastien Bourdais in the 38 he shared with Jenson Button and Earl Bamber under pressure from Julien Andlauer in the Porsche he shared with Michael Christensen.
The Cadillac duly held on to make it an history 1-2 over the Porsche, with Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre a distant fourth and a lap down in the second 963. Sheldon van der Linde delivered a blinding stint in the BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh he shared with Marco Wittmann to depose of both the Duval Jakobsen and di Resta Jensen
Peugeot 9X8s for fifth
Behind them it was a tale of woe for Ferrari, which arrived in Brazil unbeaten in 2025 and fresh off a third Le Mans 24 Hour victory in a row. Those winners, Phil Hanson, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye were clearly the quickest of the trio of 499P LMHs. Ferrari’s dramatic turnaround, as well as Toyota Gazoo Racing’s glaring lack of pace can both be put down to radical Balance of Performance swings and roundabouts that are certain to attract further criticism to the system.
Performances Out of Balance in Brazil?
behind the yellow car, Alpine crew Mick Schumacher, Frédéric Makowiecki and Jules Gounon held privateer Proton Porsche crew Nico Pino, Neel Jani and Nicolás Varrone off to close off the points paying top ten. Ahead of the pointless championship leading Calado Pier Guidi Giovinazzi and Nielsen Fuoco Molina factory Ferrari 499P. And the promising Riberas Sorensen Aston Martin Valkyrie.
Like the factory Ferraris, the Gazoo Toyotas struggled home. They finished outside of the points for the first time since the Hypercar era commenced in 2021. The Conway de Vries and Kobayashi number 8 crossed the line in a sad 14th ahead of the Hartley Hirakawa Number 7, with the second Aston Martin and delayed second BMW and Alpine next home.
The Akkodis Lexus team enjoyed a day to remember. Jose Maria Lopez, Clemens Schmid and Razvan Umbrarescu stormed to the LMGT3 win. It seemed Lexus was on the way to a1-2 before a penalty dropped the second car out of contention. That left Michelle Gatting running second in the Iron Dames Porsche she shared with Celia Martin and Rachel Frey.
Sao Paulo was a Maiden win for Lexus Too
A mix of rough traffic breaks and a determined Charlie Eastwood’s Corvette Z06 GT3.R shared with Rompuy and Andrade. And then home hero Eduardo Barrichello on the Aston Martin he drove with McIntosh and Hasse-Clot, however deposed the Iron Dames to fourth in the dying stages of the race.
As much as it was a great first victory for Cadillac on the eve of the brand’s entry to Formula 1, Brazil was also a concern by the severe fluctuations caused by the World Endurance Championship’s ever more controversial Balance of Performance system. While it is welcome, the system also cannot make a mockery of the sport. To the extent that the Ferraris that have dominated so far this season and the Toyotas that arrived in Brazil second in the chase, be stymied to the extent that they cannot even compete.
The WEC is the jewel in the crown of FIA World Championships right now. It is better and more competitive than ever with more carmakers queuing to join the fray. But consistency and fairness is essential to see this success continue long into the future. Or the series stands the risk to once again spiral back to the obscurity world endurance racing has fallen to too often in the past.
Images: WEC, Cadillac, Lexus
You must be logged in to post a comment.