6 Heures de São Paulo – Race H+2: Porsche and Cadillac battle for the lead
Cadillac didn't enjoy its pole position for long. The #5 Porsche regained the lead even before the end of the first lap. Both cars were battling for the lead at the end of the first two hours. In GT3, Lexus regained first place, at the expense of Aston Martin's #10, which made two mistakes.
Cadillac didn’t keep the lead of the race for long. In a very aggressive move, Julien Andlauer in the #5 Porsche managed to take the lead in the sixth corner and made a break for it. Behind, the Peugeots had a very good first half-hour with fourth and fifth places.
The Alpines had a mixed start. Stirred up in the opening laps, they raised their performance level in the following loops. The Aston Martin #009 was on fire as it broke into the top 10 shortly after the start, while the other one dropped down.
Valkyrie on. the. charge!! 🤯
BOLD overtake from Marco Sørensen for Aston Martin in the #009! 👏
Watch LIVE on https://t.co/IPZa0nvsLu 🇧🇷#WEC #6HSaoPaulo pic.twitter.com/Q02r8EbZN3
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) July 13, 2025
BMW had a very complicated start. Kevin Magnussen’s #15 came into the pits with a brake issue, and the sister car did not display a strong pace. Both GT3s from the German brand faced difficulties at the start, with the #46 going off track, rejoining at the back, and the #31 losing several positions.
At the top of the category, the Aston Martin from Racing Spirit of Léman maintained its first place before conceding to the #87 Lexus from Akkodis after about twenty minutes. A collision was already noted between the #27 Aston Martin from Heart of Racing and Ben Keating’s #33 Corvette. The American sent the British car into a spin.
Reliability issues
The BMW #15 came out of the pits after half an hour of repairs. After forty minutes of racing, the Alpine #35 entered the pit lane and Ferdinand Habsburg left the car after a long stint at the wheel. The A424 stayed in the pits for more than thirty laps. At the same time, the Cadillac #12 received a drive-through penalty for a technical infringement.
Big scare after 80 minutes of racing for the Aston Martin #10, which, in attempting to overtake the BMW #31, spun out and lost numerous positions. The Toyota #8 sent the Porsche #92 off the track. At the same time, the Iron Dames were climbing up the ranks thanks to Célia Martin’s good pace.
At the end of the first third of the race, the Porsche #5 and the Cadillac #38 were battling for the lead. The American car came back quite strong against the Stuttgart hypercar. The Aston Martin #009 lost a bit of pace and dropped out of the top 10. Laurens Vanthoor, in the Porsche #6, found a solution against the two Peugeots and was in fourth place.
In GT3, the Lexus #78 regained the lead in the race ahead of the Mercedes #61 and the second Lexus. The battle for the lead in the Hypercar category allowed the second Cadillac to come back on the heels of the top two. Julien Andlauer was marvelous in his defense.
