Samwise Sportscar & Endurance Newsletter
Sunday, July 12, 2026
McLaren MCL-HY Makes Public Debut at Goodwood as Norris Takes the Wheel
The McLaren MCL-HY made its first public appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on July 10-12, with Formula 1 driver Lando Norris behind the wheel for hillclimb runs at the iconic West Sussex estate. The LMDh-based Hypercar, powered by a twin-turbocharged V6 hybrid, is targeting the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2027 under McLaren Endurance Racing. Norris, who is not a contracted WEC driver, hailed the occasion as a very special experience. The Goodwood showcase marked McLaren's most prominent public demonstration of the prototype. Confirmed 2027 WEC race drivers Mikkel Jensen and Laurens Vanthoor are progressing through a structured testing program at circuits including Imola.
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Cadillac Locks Out Interlagos Front Row as Stevens Claims WEC Sao Paulo Pole
Will Stevens claimed Cadillac's second consecutive Sao Paulo pole with a 1:23.041 in the No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, locking out the Interlagos front row alongside teammate Jack Aitken in the No. 38 car. It was the fifth WEC Hypercar pole for Cadillac and Stevens' first since an LMP2 outing at Fuji in 2016. Alpine's Victor Martins finished third in Hyperpole, just 0.067 seconds behind — though Martins admitted frustration at the narrow margin. BMW and Porsche completed the top five. Aitken revealed he had not been confident both cars would even reach the shootout, noting all 17 Hypercars were within 0.739 seconds in Q1.
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Toyota Becomes Sole Manufacturer to Miss Hyperpole as Kobayashi Receives Grid Drop
Toyota endured its most difficult qualifying of the 2026 WEC season at Interlagos, becoming the only manufacturer to fail to place a car in the Hyperpole shootout. The No. 7 GR010 Hybrid of Kamui Kobayashi then received a three-place grid penalty for impeding the Genesis of Mathieu Jaminet in Q1, leaving Kobayashi effectively last among the 17 Hypercars. The No. 8 Toyota of Ryo Hirakawa qualified 14th, with Hirakawa acknowledging Interlagos has always been a tricky circuit for the brand. Toyota enters Sunday's race as WEC Manufacturers' Championship leader but from an unusually difficult grid position, with its title advantage under threat.
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Genesis Tops WEC Practice for First Time as Jaminet Leads Sao Paulo FP2
Genesis Magma Racing logged its first-ever session-topping result in WEC competition when Mathieu Jaminet posted a 1:24.271 in the No. 19 GMR-001 to lead second practice at Interlagos on July 10. The South Korean manufacturer's car edged out a competitive Hypercar field on just its fourth WEC race weekend since debuting in 2026. Jaminet described the result as good motivation for the entire Genesis program. The team maintained strong pace into qualifying, with Jaminet reaching Hyperpole before a post-session grid penalty for impeding BMW's Sheldon van der Linde. Genesis fields a single Hypercar entry per round and has shown a consistent upward trajectory through the opening four rounds.
Ferrari Set to "Risk More" at Interlagos After Three Years Arriving as Championship Leader
Ferrari driver Antonio Giovinazzi says the Scuderia can risk a little bit more at Interlagos this season, freed from the pressure of defending a championship lead. The Ferrari 499P has never reached the podium at the Brazilian circuit, with a best result of fourth, and the car's characteristics struggle on the track's low-speed corners. Sitting third in the Manufacturers' standings and 70 points behind Toyota, Giovinazzi noted Ferrari has less to lose. Engineering chief Mauro Barbieri echoed the optimism, saying the field is more tightly packed than in previous seasons. Antonio Fuoco qualified best of the Ferrari trio in seventh — now sixth following Jaminet's penalty.
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Lynn Still Absent as No. 12 Cadillac Runs Two-Driver Crew at Interlagos
Will Stevens and Jack Nato will share the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo without regular third driver Alex Lynn, who continues to recover from neck surgery. Lynn — who took Cadillac's Sao Paulo pole last year and shared in the team's 1-2 victory — has been absent since the procedure with no confirmed return date. Running as a two-driver crew throughout the Interlagos weekend, the No. 12 still managed pole position as Stevens posted a 1:23.041 in Hyperpole. Cadillac's two Hertz Team JOTA entries lock out the front row for Sunday's race, suggesting Lynn's continued absence has not blunted the car's pace.
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Pauwels Sets All-Time LMGT3 Lap Record at Interlagos to Claim Sao Paulo Pole
Kobe Pauwels set the fastest LMGT3 lap ever recorded at Interlagos — a 1:33.350 — to claim LMGT3 pole for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo on just his second WEC start. The Belgian driver was standing in for regular Heart of Racing Aston Martin driver Eduardo Barrichello and beat the previous Interlagos LMGT3 record of 1:33.849, set by Barrichello himself, by almost half a second. The result extended Aston Martin's total to 72 WEC poles and its sixth in the LMGT3 era. Pauwels admitted he never expected pole on his first visit to the Brazilian circuit, crediting thorough preparation using data and video analysis.
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Clarke Smashes LMP2 Track Record for IMSA Overall Pole at CTMP
Jeremy Clarke shattered the LMP2 track record at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park during IMSA WeatherTech qualifying, recording a 1:07.904 in the No. 43 Inter Europol Oreca — the only driver to break the 1:08 barrier. Clarke's lap earned himself and co-driver Tom Dillmann overall pole for Sunday's Chevrolet Grand Prix at CTMP, Inter Europol's third pole of the 2026 IMSA season. The Canadian round features no GTP class, making LMP2 the headline category this weekend. In the IMSA GTP Drivers' Championship, Jack Aitken holds a 203-point lead heading into the weekend; the next GTP round is the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America on July 30-August 2.
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WEC Hypercar — Drivers
1. Kobayashi / Conway / de Vries — 75 pts
2. Rast / Frijns — 71 pts
3. van der Linde — 61 pts
4. Hartley / Hirakawa / Buemi — 56 pts
5. Pier Guidi / Giovinazzi / Calado — 39 pts
(After Round 3 — Le Mans)
WEC Hypercar — Teams
1. Toyota — 132 pts
2. BMW — 96 pts
3. Ferrari — 62 pts
4. Alpine — 38 pts
5. Cadillac — 32 pts
IMSA GTP — Drivers
1. Jack Aitken — 203 pts
(After Watkins Glen; no GTP at CTMP)
IMSA GTP — Teams
1. No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Racing (leads)
IMSA GTP — Manufacturers
1. Cadillac — 2,182 pts
2. Porsche — 2,102 pts
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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