Kobe Pauwels secured LMGT3 pole position for the 2026 World Endurance Championship (WEC) Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo with a commanding Hyperpole performance for Heart of Racing Team.
The Belgian recorded a 1m33.350s in the #23 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3, beating Lin Hodenius in the #79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG by 0.199s. Pauwels claimed the result during only his secondWEC appearance.
Aston Martin therefore repeated its 2025 São Paulo pole, when Eduardo Barrichello led the class at his home event. Pauwels also established a new LMGT3 circuit benchmark and delivered Aston Martin’s record 72nd FIA WEC pole position across all categories.
2026 FIA WEC: 6 Hours of São Paulo: LMGT3: Qualifying
Racing Team Turkey by TF leads Qualifying
Racing Team Turkey by TF set the pace in the opening LMGT3 Qualifying phase as Peter Dempsey recorded a 1m33.808s in the #34 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R. The lap placed the Corvette 0.382s ahead of Anthony McIntosh in the Brazil-inspired #69 Team WRT BMW. Eric Powell took third for Proton Competition, while Gray Newell safely advanced the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin in fourth.
Petru Umbrărescu put the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus fifth, closely followed by Yasser Shahin in The Bend Manthey’s Porsche. The second Proton Ford, the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes which topped FP3, the #32 Team WRT BMW and the #79 Iron Lynx Mercedes completed the Hyperpole positions.
Only 0.912s covered the leading 10 entries, with seven manufacturers represented in the shootout.
Championship-leading Corvette misses Hyperpole
The championship-leading #33 TF Sport Corvette failed to progress after Ben Keating placed 12th. The car carried the maximum success weight following its victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Neither VISTA AF Corse Ferrari advanced, with the #54 entry finishing 13th and the #21 car taking 17th. Garage 59 also lost both McLarens during the opening phase as the #10 and #58 entries finished 14th and 18th respectively.
Antares Au spun the #10 McLaren at Junção during the closing stages. Meanwhile, the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin finished 15th, while the Le Mans runner-up #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus narrowly followed in 16th.
LMGT3 Qualifying classification
- Corvette #34 — Racing Team Turkey by TF — 1m33.808s — 5 laps
- BMW #69 — Team WRT — +0.382s — 6 laps
- Ford #77 — Proton Competition — +0.693s — 7 laps
- Aston Martin #23 — Heart of Racing Team — +0.719s — 6 laps
- Lexus #87 — Akkodis ASP Team — +0.729s — 6 laps
- Porsche #92 — The Bend Manthey — +0.750s — 6 laps
- Ford #88 — Proton Competition — +0.758s — 7 laps
- Mercedes-AMG #61 — Iron Lynx — +0.762s — 7 laps
- BMW #32 — Team WRT — +0.868s — 7 laps
- Mercedes-AMG #79 — Iron Lynx — +0.912s — 7 laps
- Porsche #91 — Manthey DK Engineering — +1.105s — 8 laps
- Corvette #33 — TF Sport — +1.195s — 5 laps
- Ferrari #54 — VISTA AF Corse — +1.304s — 7 laps
- McLaren #10 — Garage 59 — +1.327s — 8 laps
- Aston Martin #27 — Heart of Racing Team — +1.398s — 8 laps
- Lexus #78 — Akkodis ASP Team — +1.403s — 7 laps
- Ferrari #21 — VISTA AF Corse — +1.423s — 7 laps
- McLaren #58 — Garage 59 — +1.454s — 8 laps
2026 FIA WEC: 6 Hours of São Paulo: LMGT3: Hyperpole
Pauwels puts Aston Martin on pole
Newell’s performance in Qualifying gave Pauwels the opportunity to contest his first FIA WEC Hyperpole session. The 21-year-old then immediately established himself as the driver to beat. Pauwels produced two laps capable of securing pole, with his quickest effort setting a new LMGT3 record around Interlagos. His 1m33.350s placed Heart of Racing Team nearly two tenths clear of the rest of the field.
The result gave Aston Martin consecutive LMGT3 poles following its success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It also represented the manufacturer’s sixth pole since the championship introduced LMGT3.
Hodenius earns Iron Lynx front-row start
Hodenius claimed second for Iron Lynx with a 1m33.549s. The young driver put the #79 Mercedes-AMG on the front row despite the crew entering the weekend at the bottom of the LMGT3 championship standings.
Clemens Schmid followed in third for the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus. The Austrian, who won the São Paulo race in 2025, posted a 1m33.764s and finished 0.414s behind Pauwels.
However, Parker Thompson missed third by only 0.002s in the #69 Team WRT BMW. Ben Tuck followed another 0.007s behind in the #77 Proton Competition Ford, meaning Lexus, BMW and Ford occupied third through fifth within nine thousandths of a second.
Iron Lynx places both Mercedes entries inside top six
Rui Andrade took sixth in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes after leading FP3 earlier on Saturday. Iron Lynx therefore secured two positions inside the top six, with its cars separated by 0.324s.
The Bend Manthey Porsche followed in seventh, while the second Proton Competition Ford took eighth. Augusto Farfus placed the #32 Team WRT BMW ninth at his home event, ahead of the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette.
Several drivers lost laps for track-limit infringements during the session, including competitors in the #32 BMW, #87 Lexus, both Proton Fords, #79 Mercedes and #92 Porsche.
LMGT3 Hyperpole classification
- Aston Martin #23 — Heart of Racing Team — 1m33.350s — 6 laps
- Mercedes-AMG #79 — Iron Lynx — +0.199s — 6 laps
- Lexus #87 — Akkodis ASP Team — +0.414s — 6 laps
- BMW #69 — Team WRT — +0.416s — 7 laps
- Ford #77 — Proton Competition — +0.423s — 6 laps
- Mercedes-AMG #61 — Iron Lynx — +0.523s — 6 laps
- Porsche #92 — The Bend Manthey — +0.719s — 6 laps
- Ford #88 — Proton Competition — +0.931s — 6 laps
- BMW #32 — Team WRT — +0.976s — 5 laps
- Corvette #34 — Racing Team Turkey by TF — +1.262s — 7 laps
Aston Martin leads LMGT3 field into Sunday
Heart of Racing Team will begin Sunday’s race from LMGT3 pole as Pauwels seeks to convert his standout Hyperpole performance into a strong result alongside Newell and Jonny Adam.
However, Iron Lynx, Akkodis ASP Team, Team WRT and Proton Competition all placed cars within half a second of Pauwels. The Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo will begin at 11:30 local time on Sunday, 12 July.
