Cadillac has successfully completed the first step of its mission to replicate last year’s 1-2 finish at the Six Hours of São Paulo, locking out the front row once again in Saturday’s Hyperpole session.
Will Stevens claimed pole position for the six-hour endurance race after his Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA teammate, Jack Aitken, driving the No. 38 car, aborted his final flying lap despite being ahead of his provisional pole time.
Stevens guided the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar to pole with a lap time of 1:23.041, narrowly edging out Aitken by just 0.048 seconds, thereby repeating the team’s qualifying achievement from the previous year.
This year’s qualifying times were generally slower, with last year’s top four times all surpassing this season’s pole benchmark.
In 2023, Cadillac converted its 1-2 qualifying result into a 1-2 race finish to claim its first-ever FIA victory, providing redemption after a missed podium at Le Mans despite starting from the front row.
For the second consecutive year, Cadillac aims to bounce back strongly following a disappointing showing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Historically, the Six Hours of São Paulo has never been won by a car starting lower than second on the grid, adding additional pressure to the team’s qualifying efforts.
The No. 12 Cadillac will field a two-driver lineup for the shortest endurance event on the WEC calendar, with Stevens sharing driving duties with Norman Nato.
Starting third on the grid will be the No. 36 Alpine Endurance Team A424, followed by the No. 15 BMW M Team WRT M Hybrid V8 in fourth, and the No. 35 Alpine in fifth position.
Mathieu Jaminet delivered Genesis Magma Racing its best-ever starting spot in the series, placing the No. 19 Genesis GMR-001 sixth in Hyperpole after recording the second-fastest lap during qualifying.
The defending Le Mans-winning Toyota Racing TR010 will start from 16th place, while its sister car, the No. 8, lines up 14th after both failed to qualify for Hyperpole.
At Le Mans, Toyota also missed out on Hypercar 2 qualifying, starting 14th and 15th before charging through the field to secure a double podium finish, including victory for the No. 7 TR010.
At Interlagos, Toyota faces the tough task of carving its way up the order once more while aiming to defend its championship lead from BMW and Ferrari.
The No. 50 Ferrari will start from seventh, with the bright yellow No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari beginning in tenth. The No. 51 Ferrari narrowly missed out on Hyperpole qualification and will start 11th, just ahead of the second Genesis entry.
Meanwhile, the No. 20 BMW M Team M Hybrid V8 will start from the back of the Hypercar field.
In the LMGT3 category, the Heart of Racing Aston Martin GT3 Evo driven by Kobe Pauwels secured pole position. This marks only Pauwels’ second appearance in the WEC. The team will start alongside the class championship leaders, the No. 79 Iron Lynx Mercedes Evo.
