BMW M Team WRT claimed its second victory of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season as Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor won the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo in the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8.
Vanthoor crossed the line 2.254 seconds ahead of the No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P shared by James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi. Pole-sitters Will Stevens and Norman Nato completed the Hypercar podium for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA after a difficult race for both V-Series.R entries.
Meanwhile, Racing Team Turkey by TF claimed LMGT3 victory with Salih Yoluç, Peter Dempsey and Charlie Eastwood. The No. 34 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R finished 8.108 seconds ahead of Team WRT’s No. 69 BMW, while The Bend Manthey completed the class podium with its No. 92 Porsche.
Magnussen takes the fight to Cadillac
A slightly damp circuit greeted the field before the start, and the conditions immediately caught out Mike Conway. The recent 24 Hours of Le Mans winner struck the pit wall during his reconnaissance lap, forcing Toyota Racing to replace the front bodywork on the No. 7 TR010 Hybrid before the race began.
Stevens made a clean start from pole and initially maintained Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s front-row formation with Earl Bamber. However, Magnussen immediately passed Frédéric Makowiecki’s third-placed No. 36 Alpine at Turn 1 and then began closing on the two Cadillacs.
The No. 12 Cadillac opened a lead of approximately five seconds, but LMGT3 traffic allowed Magnussen to approach Bamber. On lap 11, the Dane attacked the No. 38 Cadillac at Ferradura and completed a forceful move despite contact between the two Hypercars.
Magnussen then began reducing Stevens’ advantage as the opening hour progressed. Although the pole-sitter led by 4.359 seconds after 60 minutes, BMW had already established itself as Cadillac’s greatest threat.
Slow pit stops derail Cadillac’s early control
Cadillac’s race began to unravel during the first scheduled pit-stop cycle.
Bamber locked his brakes while entering the No. 38 pit box, forcing the mechanics to reposition themselves and delaying the car. Stevens then lost further time when the No. 12 crew encountered a problem with the front-right wheel nut.
Those delays allowed Magnussen to take the net lead once the off-strategy No. 35 Alpine returned to the pits. Alpine had short-fuelled Ferdinand Habsburg during the opening hour, briefly giving the Austrian track position before he handed the car to António Félix da Costa.
Stevens responded with a determined recovery drive. He passed Brendon Hartley’s No. 8 Toyota, Giovinazzi’s No. 51 Ferrari and Yifei Ye’s No. 83 AF Corse entry as he attempted to recover the positions lost during the stop.
However, further setbacks complicated Cadillac’s challenge. Stevens made contact with Clemens Schmid’s No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus and received a five-second penalty, while Nato later spun at Turn 7 as he battled Phil Hanson in the No. 83 Ferrari.
Alpine uses alternative strategy to challenge BMW
Alpine continued to disrupt the regular strategy during the middle of the race.
Da Costa led for much of the third and fourth hours in the No. 35 A424, although his crew remained out of sequence with BMW and the other leading teams. Marciello gradually reduced the gap and applied heavy pressure as the race entered its fifth hour.
The BMW driver moved ahead at Turn 4 but ran wide while completing the pass, allowing da Costa to retake the position. Marciello remained behind until Alpine brought the No. 35 into the pits and replaced da Costa with Charles Milesi.
Alpine’s defensive effort also allowed Pier Guidi to close in with the No. 51 Ferrari. What had initially appeared to be a contest between BMW, Cadillac and Alpine developed into a direct fight between BMW and the reigning World Champions.
Meanwhile, the sister No. 36 Alpine lost ground after stewards penalised Victor Martins for a pit-stop infringement. A late slow puncture further compromised the No. 35 car and ended the team’s hopes of converting its alternative strategy into a podium.
Ferrari emerges as BMW’s main challenger
The No. 51 Ferrari steadily moved into victory contention as Cadillac encountered problems and Alpine’s strategy unfolded.
Pier Guidi brought the 499P to within two seconds of Marciello before handing the car to Calado. However, Calado ran wide while leaving the pits and collected a piece of trackside advertising, which remained attached to the Ferrari as he continued.
Despite that unusual setback, Calado took the lead during the final pit sequence. Vanthoor then reclaimed the advantage when BMW completed its final stop more effectively and emerged ahead of the Ferrari.
Dark clouds gathered over Interlagos during the closing stages, but the threatened rain never transformed the race. Vanthoor maintained a small but stable advantage and prevented Calado from moving close enough to launch an attack.
The Belgian eventually completed 242 laps and secured the victory by 2.254 seconds. The result gave BMW M Team WRT its second win in four rounds after the No. 20 crew had delivered the marque’s breakthrough FIA WEC triumph at Spa-Francorchamps.
Cadillac settles for third and fourth
The two Cadillacs recovered to finish third and fourth despite their difficult pit stops, penalties and time lost in traffic.
Stevens and Nato remained ahead of the No. 38 car during the final hour. However, Cadillac briefly exchanged the positions with approximately 15 minutes remaining to give Jack Aitken an opportunity to chase Calado.
Aitken could not close sufficiently on the Ferrari, so the team restored the original order before the chequered flag. The No. 12 consequently finished third, 6.687 seconds behind BMW, while Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais and Aitken took fourth.
The result still delivered a substantial points return after Cadillac had locked out the front row in Hyperpole. Nevertheless, pit-stop errors prevented the team from converting its Qualifying advantage into a second consecutive São Paulo victory.
Late contact changes fight behind podium
The battle immediately behind the podium produced further drama during the closing laps.
Robin Frijns attempted to pass Antonio Fuoco’s No. 50 Ferrari into the Senna Esses, but contact sent the 499P into a spin. Robert Kubica capitalised in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari and passed both cars to claim fifth alongside Ye and Hanson.
Frijns continued to finish sixth in the No. 20 BMW that he shared with René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde, although stewards investigated the incident after the race. The No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie followed only 0.519 seconds behind in seventh.
Fuoco recovered to finish eighth alongside Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen. The No. 009 Aston Martin took ninth, giving Aston Martin THOR Team its first double points finish of the season, while the off-strategy No. 35 Alpine completed the top 10.
Toyota endures another difficult Interlagos race
Toyota Racing failed to carry its Le Mans-winning momentum into São Paulo.
The No. 7 Toyota received penalties for start and Full Course Yellow infringements before finishing one lap behind the winner in 12th. Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries therefore lost the championship lead they had held before the Brazilian round.
The sister No. 8 car suffered an even more difficult contest. Contact with Marco Sørensen’s No. 009 Aston Martin and André Lotterer’s No. 17 Genesis damaged the Toyota’s toe rod and cost the crew approximately 12 laps in the pits.
The No. 8 eventually finished 17th and last in Hypercar, 12 laps behind BMW. The two Peugeots and Genesis entries also finished outside the points-paying top 10 after penalties and incidents disrupted their races.
2026 FIA WEC: 6 Hours of São Paulo: Race: Hypercar Results
- BMW M Team WRT #15 – 242 laps – 6:00:26.462
- Ferrari AF Corse #51 – 242 laps – +2.254s
- Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA #12 – 242 laps – +6.687s
- Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA #38 – 242 laps – +12.666s
- AF Corse #83 – 242 laps – +32.351s
- BMW M Team WRT #20 – 242 laps – +35.047s
- Aston Martin THOR Team #007 – 242 laps – +35.566s
- Ferrari AF Corse #50 – 242 laps – +39.952s
- Aston Martin THOR Team #009 – 242 laps – +45.523s
- Alpine Endurance Team #35 – 242 laps – +56.996s
- Alpine Endurance Team #36 – 242 laps – +1:17.818
- Toyota Racing #7 – 241 laps – +1 lap
- Genesis Magma Racing #19 – 241 laps – +1 lap
- Peugeot TotalEnergies #94 – 241 laps – +1 lap
- Genesis Magma Racing #17 – 241 laps – +1 lap
- Peugeot TotalEnergies #93 – 240 laps – +2 laps
- Toyota Racing #8 – 230 laps – +12 laps
Racing Team Turkey uses alternative strategy to win LMGT3
Racing Team Turkey by TF followed its Le Mans success with another Corvette victory, although the No. 34 crew used a different driver strategy from most of its rivals.
While almost every LMGT3 team started with its Bronze-rated driver, the Corvette opened the race with Silver-rated Yoluç. He completed a highly competitive double stint before handing the car to Dempsey, allowing the team to fulfil its Bronze-driver requirements later.
The strategy initially placed the Corvette out of sequence, but it moved into the net lead during the third hour. Eastwood then took control for the final phase and maintained the advantage until the finish.
The No. 34 completed 219 laps and crossed the line 8.108 seconds clear of the Team WRT BMW. The result gave the TF Sport operation consecutive LMGT3 victories after the No. 33 Corvette had won at Le Mans.
Ford Mustangs control the opening stages
The two Proton Competition Ford Mustangs starred during the opening hours after pole-sitter Gray Newell struggled at the start in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin.
Johannes Zelger briefly led in the No. 79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG, but stewards handed him a drive-through penalty for his start. Petru Umbrărescu then placed the No. 87 Lexus at the front before Stefano Gattuso and Eric Powell attacked in the two Mustangs.
Gattuso passed the Lexus into the Senna Esses after approximately 30 minutes, and Powell followed later in the lap. The two Fords subsequently established a one-two formation and led the class for much of the first 80 minutes.
However, the intra-team fight became tense when Gattuso and Powell made contact at the exit of the Senna Esses. Powell ran wide and lost momentum, although both cars remained among the leading contenders.
Contrasting strategies separate Proton entries
Proton Competition divided its strategy after the opening phase.
The No. 88 team removed Gattuso when he completed the minimum Bronze-driver time, while Powell remained in the No. 77 for a longer opening stint. That decision initially placed the No. 77 Mustang in a stronger position once the strategies began to converge.
Ben Tuck and Sebastian Priaulx maintained the car’s challenge, while Logan Sargeant took over the No. 88 and remained close to the leading group. However, Racing Team Turkey’s alternative driver order had already placed the Corvette in control.
Priaulx attempted to reach the finish with one fewer stop and held second during the final hour. His older tyres eventually left him vulnerable, allowing Dan Harper to pass for second in the No. 69 BMW with approximately 20 minutes remaining.
Priaulx then lost positions to Richard Lietz’s No. 92 Porsche and Sargeant’s No. 88 Ford before a drive-through penalty for track limits dropped the No. 77 to 10th.
Team WRT converts special livery into podium
Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson and Harper completed a strong weekend for the No. 69 Team WRT BMW with second place.
The crew had started fourth after Thompson narrowly missed third in Hyperpole. McIntosh and Thompson kept the Brazilian-liveried M4 LMGT3 Evo among the leading group before Harper completed the decisive late pass on Priaulx.
Harper could not close the eight-second gap to Eastwood during the remaining laps, but second still marked the crew’s first podium of the season. It also gave BMW podium finishes in both classes.
The result held particular significance after a gearbox failure forced the No. 69 crew to retire from the double-points 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Manthey Porsches complete strong recovery
The Bend Manthey claimed third after Yasser Shahin, Riccardo Pera and Lietz progressed through the order.
Shahin completed the opening stints before Pera and Lietz carried the Porsche into podium contention. Sargeant pressured Lietz during the closing laps, but the Austrian maintained the position and secured the crew’s third podium of the season.
The sister No. 91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche moved past Sargeant late in the race to take fourth. Consequently, Proton Competition had to settle for fifth with the No. 88 despite controlling much of the opening phase.
Iron Lynx finished sixth with the No. 61 Mercedes-AMG after Rui Andrade spun following contact with Sean Gelael’s No. 32 BMW. Stewards took no further action over that incident.
The No. 87 Lexus recovered from its contact with Stevens to take seventh, while the championship-leading No. 33 TF Sport Corvette finished eighth despite carrying maximum success weight and receiving late contact from Maxime Martin’s No. 61 Mercedes.
2026 FIA WEC: 6 Hours of São Paulo: Race: LMGT3 Results
- Racing Team Turkey by TF #34 – 219 laps
- Team WRT #69 – 219 laps – +8.108s
- The Bend Manthey #92 – 218 laps – +1 lap
- Manthey DK Engineering #91 – 218 laps – +1 lap
- Proton Competition #88 – 218 laps – +1 lap
- Iron Lynx #61 – 218 laps – +1 lap
- Akkodis ASP Team #87 – 218 laps – +1 lap
- TF Sport #33 – 218 laps – +1 lap
- VISTA AF Corse #21 – 218 laps – +1 lap
- Proton Competition #77 – 218 laps – +1 lap
- Garage 59 #58 – 218 laps – +1 lap
- Team WRT #32 – 218 laps – +1 lap
- Heart of Racing Team #27 – 217 laps – +2 laps
- Akkodis ASP Team #78 – 217 laps – +2 laps
- Iron Lynx #79 – 217 laps – +2 laps
- Garage 59 #10 – 217 laps – +2 laps
- VISTA AF Corse #54 – 217 laps – +2 laps
- Heart of Racing Team #23 – 216 laps – +3 laps
BMW and Corvette build momentum before Austin
BMW M Team WRT converted consistent pace and cleaner execution into its second Hypercar victory of the season. Although Cadillac controlled the opening phase and Ferrari mounted a determined late challenge, BMW recovered from neither pole nor the early lead to secure the result through strong stints and efficient pit work.
Racing Team Turkey by TF produced a similarly composed performance in LMGT3. Its alternative driver strategy placed the Corvette in control before Eastwood completed the final stint and delivered the team’s second consecutive class victory.
The FIA WEC will return at Circuit of The Americas for the Lone Star Le Mans in September, where BMW and Corvette will attempt to carry their São Paulo momentum into the second half of the campaign.
