Porsche Penske Motorsport laid down a strong marker as the fifth round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship – the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo – got underway with two Free Practice sessions at Interlagos
With the Hypercar title battle entering curtail, title-deciding stage, the factory Porsche squad topped both sessions courtesy of Laurens Vanthoor and Kévin Estre.
The opening 90-minute session saw Vanthoor post a 1:25.175s best in the #6 Porsche 963, edging out the #50 Ferrari AF Corse Hypercar of Antonio Fuoco by just 0.084s. René Rast made it three different manufacturers in the top three, as the BMW M Team WRT driver lapped only 0.070s slower than Fuoco.
Mike Conway was the best of the Toyota runners in FP1, putting the #7 GR010 Hybrid fourth ahead of Raffaele Marciello in the returning Marco Wittmann-driven #20 BMW. Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA completed the top six, Sébastien Bourdais setting a 1:25.352s in the #38 V-Series.R.
Notably, the #8 Toyota struggled to 16th in the hands of Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa, running without Sébastien Buemi for the first time since 2012.
Porsche’s dominance continued into the afternoon’s FP2, as Estre posted the fastest lap of the day – a 1:23.508s – in a dry and overcast session. The #5 sister car was second, with Julien Andlauer only 0.104s adrift. Dries Vanthoor ensured BMW stayed in the mix, placing the #15 WRT Hypercar third, just 0.006s behind Andlauer.
Cadillac’s #12 machine was fourth in the hands of Alex Lynn, while a surprise came from Aston Martin THOR Team as Harry Tincknell delivered a 1:24.005s for fifth. The top six was rounded out by Sheldon van der Linde’s #20 BMW, with all six cars covered by just 0.511s. The top 15 lapped within a single second.
In LMGT3, Akkodis ASP Team dominated FP1 with a Lexus one-two. José María López led the way in the #87 with a 1:35.010s, narrowly ahead of Finn Gehrsitz in the #78. Daniel Juncadella put the TF Sport Corvette third.
FP2 brought Interlagos to its feet as Eduardo Barrichello – son of local Formula 1 legend Rubens – went quickest in class. The #777 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin set a 1:34.493s to top the times, ahead of the two Lexus entries.