Six hours in Brazil that made history for Cadillac in WEC

It felt like a long time coming for Cadillac, but finally, it has a Hypercar victory to its name after two and a half seasons of trying. And it was a dominant win too, with Hertz Team JOTA delivering a commanding 1-2 finish at Interlagos in just its fifth race as service provider for the American brand with the V-Series.R.

With Ferrari’s four-race win streak snapped by a performance from JOTA – which felt, well, very Ferrari-like – Alex Lynn and Norman Nato have a first Hypercar win on their resume. Stevens, meanwhile, has a second after forming part of JOTA’s winning line-up from the 6 Hours of Spa last year when it was competing as a Porsche privateer. And the British team has continued its fine tradition of winning at least one race a year in the WEC and looks like a force to be reckoned with for the remainder of the season.

“We were just strong, so for us as a team it was special to deliver this so early on this journey with Cadillac, which is a long-term project,” Stevens said.

“This is now year three of me racing this car, and year four of driving it,” Lynn added. "I first drove this car in the summer of 2022, and to see its evolution from that to becoming a race winner in a world championship is something I’m proud of. I’m extremely grateful to be part of this. JOTA has just improved this car so much, the whole operation has just taken a step up this year.”

All in all, it's been a strange year for Cadillac in sports car racing so far, following the well-documented off-season of change for its LMDh project. Keely Bosn took over as program manager from Laura Wontrop Klauser, JOTA joined to take on an expanded WEC effort in place of Chip Ganassi Racing, and Wayne Taylor Racing returned to the fold in IMSA. Naturally, there was always going to be a period of adjustment. But that appears to be over now, with the V-Series.R taking its first win of 2025, and its first globally since Petit Le Mans last year.

Starting up front was key to Cadillac's win, but it had to manage tire wear to stay there. James Moy Photography/Getty Images

What were the keys to victory in Brazil? Tire management and track position. Every WEC race at Interlagos has been won by a car starting on the front row. It’s a tight, twisty, technical circuit, which is hard on tires and mentally draining for drivers. As the shortest round on the calendar, too, it’s easy to lose a lap. With zero safety cars and only four brief full-course yellows across the six hours, it was near-impossible for the cars that fell back early to regain lost ground.

Peugeot’s 9X8s were competitive, but left with no options on strategy to push forward and faded. Porsche’s pair of Penske-run 963s had pace too, yet suffered on old Medium tires more than expected. It was also a forgettable day for championship-leader Ferrari, with only one car in the points, and a truly horrible outing for Toyota.

The latter’s performance was perhaps the biggest surprise of all, its GR010s finishing 14th and 15th (marking the team's worst result since 2018) at an event it won convincingly 12 months ago. Was it all down to Balance of Performance?

“I don’t know what to say about it,” shrugged No. 7 driver Nyck de Vries in conversation with RACER. “We just have to hope things get better, stick to the same approach and see what happens.”

All together, these factors, plus tough weekends for Alpine and BMW, handed JOTA a golden opportunity. And it capitalized on it fully with metronomic runs from all six of its drivers and near-perfect execution on pit lane.

“The three winners and the three guys in the 38 did an amazing job, but the drivers are just the tip of the iceberg,” JOTA co-owner Sam Hignett explained. “There are hundreds of people across JOTA, GM, Cadillac and Dallara who helped make this happen."

“This kind of consistency only comes from world-class engineering and well-executed strategies,” Cadillac Racing program manager Keely Bosn added. “It wasn’t just a win on the track – it was a win in the garage, in the data room, and in every detail of our race prep this season.”

What’s next? Hignett said post-race that the JOTA team expected to get a win in year one, then fight for the championship and a Le Mans win in years two and three. With the first item now checked off the list, the remaining tasks won't be any easier to complete, but the team’s level of confidence has received an enormous boost from today’s achievement, an element that shouldn't be overlooked.

"This wasn’t a perfect race, so we’ve got to keep working," Hignett said. "We’ve got to learn more, we’ve got to do better in areas to win more races and win Le Mans.”

“I think this is just the beginning. The sky is the limit from this car, this partnership," Lynn said with his trophy in hand. "I’m excited about what comes next.”