The FIA World Endurance Championship is heading abroad for its first long-haul occasion of the season this weekend as opponents put together to sort out Brazil’s iconic Autódromo José Carlos Tempo, residence to the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo – spherical 4 of the 2026 marketing campaign.
The FIA World Endurance Championship is heading abroad for its first long-haul occasion of the season this weekend as opponents put together to sort out Brazil’s iconic Autódromo José Carlos Tempo, residence to the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo – spherical 4 of the 2026 marketing campaign.
The nation’s premier motor sport venue featured on the inaugural FIA WEC calendar in 2012 and remained a well-liked cease on the schedule for 3 editions earlier than rejoining the fray following a decade-long absence in 2024. Twelve months in the past, nearly 85,000 enthusiastic followers stuffed the grandstands and spectator banks – the third-highest attendance of the yr.
The observe’s flowing 4.309km, 15-turn anticlockwise structure is the shortest of the season, with Hypercars reaching speeds within the area of 305km/h and roughly half of the lap spent at full throttle.
Its altitude – at nearly 800 metres above sea stage – pushes automobiles to the restrict, with frequent modifications in elevation making it significantly demanding for drivers and plentiful overtaking alternatives guaranteeing exhilarating motion from lights to flag.
HYPERCAR HEADLINERS POISED FOR SOUTH AMERICAN SCRAP
The final 4 FIA WEC races in São Paulo have every gone the best way of a unique producer, with no circuit having ever produced 5 completely different winners consecutively – that means historical past may very well be made this weekend. Of the present Hypercar crop, solely Toyota and Cadillac have triumphed on the observe, with the Japanese big the only real marque because the world championship’s inception to have prevailed there greater than as soon as.
Certainly, Interlagos was the scene of Toyota’s breakthrough victory within the sequence again in 2012, and the latest 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning TR010 Hybrid shall be aiming to observe within the wheeltracks of its ultra-successful TS030 Hybrid and GR010 Hybrid predecessors, each of which took the chequered flag first in Brazil.
Mike Conway – one of many members of final month’s La Sarthe-conquering #7 crew and one of many present world championship leaders – will grow to be solely the third driver ever to achieve 90 appearances in FIA WEC, becoming a member of stablemate Sébastien Buemi and LMGT3 class veteran Richard Lietz. Each Conway and Buemi are counted amongst the 11 earlier winners in São Paulo within the 2026 discipline, in firm with Toyota team-mates Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa.
Final yr, the story was all about Cadillac, because the American model broke its duck courtesy of a commanding one-two demonstration with British associate JOTA. The V-Sequence.R returns to Interlagos because the Hypercar lap record-holder in each qualifying and race trim, and its 2025 victory in South America made Will Stevens and Norman Nato winners on each continent the sequence has visited.
Since that day, nonetheless, Cadillac has but to achieve the podium once more, with its greatest subsequent end being fourth place at Le Mans final month.
If Toyota leads the best way within the chase for the crown and Cadillac is the in-form marque at Interlagos, then BMW is the darkish horse heading into the weekend. The present marketing campaign is the primary wherein three completely different crews have led the standings within the high tier over the course of the opening three rounds, and one in all them was the Bavarian producer’s #20 line-up of René Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde, which led a top-two lockout at Spa-Francorchamps and adopted that up with the runner-up spoils final trip at La Sarthe.
The Belgian outcome represented BMW’s first outright victory in world endurance racing in nearly 27 years, and having conceded the championship result in Toyota in north-western France three weeks in the past, the German automotive maker is raring to redress the steadiness.
Ferrari’s dominant early-season run in 2025 got here to an abrupt halt in São Paulo, and the well-known Maranello-based marque has not gained a race since. Nor has the 499P prototype ever positioned increased than fifth in Brazil – a statistic the crew shall be eager to quash this weekend.
MULTIPLE MARQUES PRIMED TO SHINE IN LMGT3
As in Hypercar, FIA WEC hailed a brand new LMGT3 winner at Interlagos final yr, following a equally spectacular efficiency by Akkodis ASP Staff’s Lexus RC F. Following a shaky begin to the 2026 season marred by reliability points at Imola and Spa-Francorchamps, Akkodis made good on its palpable promise at Le Mans with an excellent second-place end.
Aston Martin is the one model to register a number of LMGT3 rostrums in São Paulo. Underscoring the Vantage’s affinity with the observe, no GT competitor has accrued extra high three finishes there than the British producer’s whole of eight. Aston Martin can also be the joint-winningest marque at Interlagos throughout all FIA WEC lessons mixed.
As a sign of the shape information, the three LMGT3 producers that celebrated on the rostrum in Brazil final yr – Lexus, Aston Martin and Corvette – had been reunited on the podium final month at Le Mans, whereas Imola winner BMW shall be hoping to leverage the native information in its #32 Staff WRT M4 Evo within the form of Augusto Farfus, one in all two residence heroes within the occasion alongside ‘Pipo’ Derani in Genesis Magma Racing’s #17 GMR-001 Hypercar.
WEEKEND GUIDE
On-track motion begins with Free Observe on Friday, 10 July. Qualifying, together with the Hyperpole top-ten shootout, begins at 14:30 native time (GMT-3) on Saturday, 11 July, earlier than the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo will get underway at 11:30 native time (GMT-3) on Sunday, 12 July.
For the occasion timetable, entry listing and all of the important info click here.
