Qualifying around the Interlagos circuit was certain to deliver an incredible show, and Cadillac Hertz Team Jota was the star of it. Will Stevens claimed Hypercar pole position with the number 12 as the chequered flag fell on a session dominated by Jack Aitken driving the sister car. The LMGT3 class saw the Aston Martin Heart of Racing team take the top spot after a tight shootout.
LMGT3 qualifying session recap
On a track where race direction was strictly enforcing track limits, the LMGT3 qualifying session saw clean laps and a close fight for the top 10 spots. After the first couple laps, the Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette took P1 with a lap time of 1:33.808. Times kept improving all around, with almost every car dropping someone out of the top 10 as they crossed the finish line.
Despite this, the #34 Corvette managed to stay at the top of the order through the entire session. The championship leader, TF Sport‘s #33 Corvette driven by Ben Keating finished only in 12th. When asked about this result, the american driver highlighted how the BoP added a considerable amount of weight to the car, possibly affecting their performance.
Aston Martin clinches LMGT3 Hyperpole
Heart of Racing‘s #23 dominated the Hyperpole session. Their first laptime had already beaten the 2025 pole position time, but Kobe Pauwels kept improving it, closing the session at the top with a 1:33.350. Iron Lynx grabbed a super important second place, followed by Akkodis ASP Team in 3rd.
Both Ford cars notably put together a strong performance, finishing in 5th and 8th position.
Shocking twists in Hypercar qualifying
The qualifying session for Hypercars was opened by Harry Tincknell placing his Aston Martin at the top of the timesheets. After the first few warm up laps, Genesis Magma Racing moved to the top of the field showing impressive pace. The #19 continued to perform well through the entire session, eventually moving to Hyperpole.
On the other hand, championship leader Toyota Racing struggled with both cars. Kamui Kobayashi lost an important lap because of track limits, pushing #7 out of the top 10. Meanwhile, #8 was consistently at the bottom of the times through the whole session. Another heartbreak came for the #51 Ferrari, as Antonio Giovinazzi was knocked out by a mere 0.059 seconds.
Cadillac’s last second front row lockout
In a session where getting the tires to the right temperature was crucial, all teams were likely looking to get a single push lap. The first benchmark was once again set by the #007 Aston Martin, who lapped one second faster than the rest of the field.
With 3 minutes to go, Mathieu Jaminet managed to slot his Genesis in P2, as Jack Aitken claimed pole position for Cadillac. When the chequered flag fell on Interlagos, Will Stevens delivered an outstanding lap with his #12 Cadillac, snatching the first spot in a thrilling last minute turn of events.
This year’s Rolex 6 hours of SãoPaulo is gearing up to be an exciting race, with Toyota looking to continue their streak of successes despite a tough qualifying. Cadillac will be the ones to look out for, together with TF Sport, as we wait for the green flag on Sunday.