Cadillac go back to back with Hyperpole 1-2s, Barrichello quickest in LMGT3 for WEC at São Paulo
- Aaron Carroll
- Jul 12
- 6 min read
Written by Aaron Carroll
Alex Lynn has put the No.12 Cadillac on pole again, ahead of the sister No.38. Both factory Ferraris will start outside the top 10, with the No.8 Toyota at the back of the grid. The No.10 Aston Martin took pole in LMGT3.
Qualifying for the fifth round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) got underway at 14:45 local time today. The LMGT3s took their turn first, before the premier Hypercar class took to the Interlagos circuit to set the grid.
LMGT3 - Qualifying
The bronze drivers took their opportunity to shine here, with each car mandated to run their bronze driver for the Qualifying and the silver drivers for Hyperpole.
All of the teams would have their data from last year reset to zero, with the track being resurfaced. Specifically for the LMGT3s however, Goodyear have introduced the brand new hard compound tyre. Many challenges for the drivers, in a very crucial session.
The light went green and the end of the pits and the drivers flooded out of the pits as the 12 minute clock began to count down. Important to note, the fastest times don't matter as much here, it's the top 10 times we're looking for, as those drivers would go into Hyperpole.
The two Porsches went to the top early, the No.85 Iron Dames ahead of the No.92 1st Phorm. The times would continue to tumble though, as the tyres got closer and closer to the optimal operating temperature.
Once everyone had a representative run in, the No.87 Lexus stood on top of the time sheets in a rapidly evolving session. Petro Umbarescu in that car was four tenths of a second quicker than anyone else with three minutes to go.
The No.46 of Ahmad Al-Harthy was in the pits with two and a half minutes to go, in 11th. The other BMW was also in the drop zone, in 18th. Both Corvettes also went into the drop zone, but were still on track.
They both improved however, up to seventh and eighth, putting both Vista AF Corse Ferraris into the drop zone. The No.92 that was previously second, was stuck in 13th with no improvements coming, as was the case with many cars in the bottom eight.
The No.54 Ferrari peeled into the pits, calling it a day for them in 11th. The No.27 Aston Martin couldn't improve, the same with the No.92, No.46, No.21, No.77, No.60 and No.31. The tyres couldn't last long enough to improve at the end of the session, so those cars will start the race in that order.
Notably we lost both Ferraris and both BMWs, along with the Le Mans winning and championship leading No.92 Porsche.
LMGT3 - Hyperpole
At 15:05 local time the top 10 from the previous session returned to the track on new tyres, with the silver drivers aboard for Hyperpole. The slightly more experienced drivers would only have 10 minutes, instead of the 12 from the previous session.
The Iron Dames were quick again early, Rahal Frey and Martin taking a more aggressive approach to warm up than others. That time quickly tumbled though, the No.10 Aston Martin of Eduardo Barichello going top. Clemens Schmid in the No.87 Lexus went just 0.006 seconds slower.
The No.78 sister Lexus was two tenths back, Finn Gehersitz in that car and Schmid both improving halfway around their next laps. Lin Hodenius in the No.61 split the two Akkodis cars momentarily before Gehrsitz improved.
Sean Gelael sat fifth in the No.95 McLaren, ahead of the No.85, No.88 Ford, No.59 McLaren and the two Corvettes. Barrichello marginally improved at the top, as did Gehrsitz, neither enough to go to the top of the timing.
On his next lap the home hero in the Aston Martin went purple in sector one, but got caught out with track limits. Hodenius improved on his last lap, but couldn't better his P4. So Barrichello took pole in his home race. The son of Formula One legend Rubuens, taking a very popular pole.
The No.87 and No.78 Lexus' were second and third, with the No.61 Mercedes in fourth. The two McLarens followed, No.95 ahead of No.59. The No.85 Iron Dames Porsche was seventh, then the No.88 Ford, No.33 Corvette, with the sister No.81 rounding out the top 10.
Hypercar - Qualifying
The 18 Hypercars went to the track for their 12 minute session at 15:25 local time, similarly the top 10 going through to Hyperpole. One difference to LMGT3 however, there are no driver restrictions for the top class.
The No.7 Toyota was held in the pits for the first couple of minutes, likely to just avoid the big clump of traffic at the start of the session.
Even going onto their third laps drivers were weaving trying to get temperature, no one pushing to the limit early on.
The first somewhat representative time came from Alex Riberas in the No.009, a 1:24.2. Julian Andlauer went almost a second quicker soon after, and then came times a tenth slower from the two BMWs.
The No.12 Cadillac went four and a half tenths ahead of the Porsche of Andlauer. The No.50 Ferrari went just ahead of the Astons, as the No.51 split them. The No.93 Peugeot went second after Paul Di Resta got a massive tow from a Cadillac down the main straight.
Alex Lynn stood out at the top however, four tenths quicker than anyone else. Interestingly though at this ppint with three and a half minutes left, both Toyotas and Alpines hadn't set a representative lap.
They came across to jump up quickly, as the second Peugeot jumped to second. In the drop zone was both of the Aston Martins, the No.51 and No.83 Ferraris, the No.99 Porsche, the No.7 Toyota and both Alpines together at the back.
The No.009 improved to 10th, knocking the No.50 down to 12th, behind the No.007 too. The No.8 Toyota pitted early from ninth, Rio Hirakawa feeling he had nothing left.
Anontonio Giovinazzi couldn't better his time in 12th, with non of the Ferraris into Hyperpole as the chequered flag came out. Robert Kubica went from 17th to ninth, bumping the No.009 to tenth.
The No.99 went 12th, and the No.009 couldn't improve from 11th. The No.50 pit too, so both factory Ferraris knocked out of Qualifying, they won't feature in Hyperpole.
So the full knockout order, the No.009 in 11th, No.99 Proton Porsche, No.007, No.50, No.36 and No.35 Alpines, No.51 Ferrari and the No.7 Toyota. A Ferrari - Toyota backrow for tomorrows race.
At the end of the session, a few cars were under investigation for impeding, so the order was not confirmed by race control for a few minutes. However, no changes were made, so the order for Hyperpole was set.
Hypercar - Hyperpole
Due to the investigations, Hyperpole was delayed by four minutes to 15:49 local time. That was when the light went green, and the 10 went out on track for 10 minutes.
Tyre warm-up proved crucial once again, drivers taking three and more laps to get everything up to temperature. About halfway through the session times came through in the 1:25s, we edged ever closer to full push laps in the dying minutes of the session.
The two Porsches were first to go quicker, the No.5 ahead of the No.6. Sheldon Van Der Linde in the No.20 BMW split the two, before Alex Lynn in the No.12 Cadillac went half a tenth quicker than Julien Andlauer in the lead of the two 963s.
Lynn improved by two tenths, before his teammate Sebastian Bourdais in the No.38 came by to second, just a tenth off. Youngster Malthe Jakobsen went fourth in the No.94 Peugeot, as Van Der Linde and Andlauer pit.
Bourdais couldn't improve on his next lap, as the No.15 BMW pit from eighth place. Hirakawa was in ninth, and couldn't improve, the same with Kevin Estre in the No.6. Kubica went ninth ahead of the Toyota, and no one else could better their laps.
So it was a Cadillac 1-2, from the No.5 Porsche. Then came the No.94 Peugeot, No.20 BMW, No.93 Peugeot. The No.6 Porsche was seventh, the No.15 eighth, followed by the Le Mans winning No.83 in ninth. The No.8 Toyota rounded out the top 10.
Post Qualifying
After qualifying was over, the No.38 Cadillac got a one place grid drop for impeding the No.93 Peugeot. They dropped to third, moving the No.5 Porsche up. Read the breaking report here.
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