Practice report

WEC Sao Paulo: Jota leads final practice top three sweep for Porsche

Callum Ilott fastest for Jota in Hypercar, Porsche also heads LMGT3 classification

Jota's Callum Ilott headed a tight final practice session for the World Endurance Championship's Interlagos round with the top three split by less than a tenth.

Ilott headed a Porsche 963 LMDh clean sweep of the top three, his customer Jota car beating the two factory Porsche Penske Motorsport entries with a benchmark effort of 1m24.297s set shortly before the track was declared wet.

Conditions never deteriorated to the point that wet tyres were required, but Ilott's time held to the end of the hour-long session.

Matt Campbell was just 0.012s slower than the winner of the WEC's Spa 6 Hours earlier this year, while Kevin Estre was 0.093s behind in third.

Charles Milesi was fourth in the leading Alpine A424, clocking in 0.347s off the pace, fractionally ahead of Dries Vanthoor's WRT-run BMW M Hybrid V8.

Daniil Kvyat's Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 and Jenson Button in the second Jota Porsche completed an LMDh lockout of the top seven, with Le Mans winner Antonio Fuoco's factory Ferrari 499P the top Le Mans Hypercar in eighth.

Robert Shwartzman in the customer AF Corse-run Ferrari was ninth, ahead of the #93 Peugeot 9X8 LMH in which Jean-Eric Vergne visited the Turn 1 run-off.

Mick Schumacher set the 11th fastest time in the second Alpine, which caused the session's most noteworthy incident when Matthieu Vaxiviere spun Carl Wattana Bennett's Isotta Fraschini Tipo6 at Turn 8.

#92 Manthey Purerxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm, Klaus Bachler

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

After heading the timesheets in Friday's second practice, the two Toyota GR010 HYBRIDs were only 13th and 14th, with Nyck de Vries and Sebastien Buemi respectively setting the times aboard the #7 and #8 machines.

The LMGT3 times continued to tumble after the rain began to fall, with joint championship leader Alexander Malykhin ultimately setting the pace in the #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The bronze-rated driver posted two laps quick enough for the top spot, with his best effort of 1m35.488s putting him 0.062s quicker than Nico Pino's United Autosports McLaren.

Sarah Bovy made it three different manufacturers in the top three positions with third in her Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan Evo2, 0.151s behind Malykhin, while Gregoire Saucy completed a strong session for McLaren with fourth in the second United entry.

Qualifying for Sunday's Sao Paulo 6 Hours begins at 14:30 local time.

WEC Sao Paulo - FP3 results

1 - 2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	12	W. Stevens C. Ilott N. Nato	Porsche 963	37	1'24.297		184.020
2	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	M. Campbell M. Christensen F. Makowiecki	Porsche 963	36	+0.012 1'24.309	0.012	183.994
3	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	6	K. Estre A. Lotterer L. Vanthoor	Porsche 963	37	+0.093 1'24.390	0.081	183.817
4	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	P. Chatin F. Habsburg C. Milesi	Alpine A424	38	+0.347 1'24.644	0.254	183.266
5	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	D. Vanthoor R. Marciello M. Wittmann	BMW M Hybrid V8	37	+0.385 1'24.682	0.038	183.184
6	Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR	63	M. Bortolotti E. Mortara D. Kvyat	Lamborghini SC63	37	+0.426 1'24.723	0.041	183.095
7	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	38	J. Button P. Hanson O. Rasmussen	Porsche 963	34	+0.467 1'24.764	0.041	183.006
8	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	36	+0.605 1'24.902	0.138	182.709
9	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica R. Shwartzman Y. Yifei	Ferrari 499P	35	+0.612 1'24.909	0.007	182.694
10	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	M. Jensen N. Müller J. Vergne	Peugeot 9X8 2024	36	+0.813 1'25.110	0.201	182.262
11	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	N. Lapierre M. Schumacher M. Vaxiviere	Alpine A424	38	+0.817 1'25.114	0.004	182.254
12	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	P. di Resta L. Duval S. Vandoorne	Peugeot 9X8 2024	30	+1.176 1'25.473	0.359	181.488
13	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	M. Conway K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	38	+1.189 1'25.486	0.013	181.461
14	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	39	+1.224 1'25.521	0.035	181.387
15	CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR	2	E. Bamber A. Lynn	Cadillac V-Series.R	34	+1.381 1'25.678	0.157	181.054
16	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	35	+1.761 1'26.058	0.380	180.255
17	Proton Competition HYPERCAR	99	N. Jani J. Andlauer	Porsche 963	31	+2.598 1'26.895	0.837	178.518
18	Isotta Fraschini HYPERCAR	11	A. Serravalle C. Bennett J. Vernay	Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competizione LMH	33	+2.668 1'26.965	0.070	178.375
19	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	S. Van Der Linde R. Frijns R. Rast	BMW M Hybrid V8	36	+3.015 1'27.312	0.347	177.666
20	Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3	92	A. Malykhin J. Sturm K. Bachler	Porsche 911 GT3 R	31	+11.191 1'35.488	8.176	162.453
21	United Autosports LMGT3	95	J. Caygill N. Pino M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	33	+11.253 1'35.550	0.062	162.348
22	IRON DAMES LMGT3	85	S. Bovy R. Frey M. Gatting	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	32	+11.342 1'35.639	0.089	162.197
23	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham N. Costa G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	34	+11.374 1'35.671	0.032	162.143
24	TF Sport LMGT3	82	H. Koizumi S. Baud D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	33	+11.532 1'35.829	0.158	161.875
25	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	32	+11.584 1'35.881	0.052	161.788
26	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James D. Mancinelli A. Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	27	+11.805 1'36.102	0.221	161.415
27	Manthey EMA LMGT3	91	Y. Shahin M. Schuring R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	32	+11.833 1'36.130	0.028	161.368
28	D'Station Racing LMGT3	777	C. Mateu E. Bastard M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	29	+11.844 1'36.141	0.011	161.350
29	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	G. Roda M. Pedersen D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	26	+11.849 1'36.146	0.005	161.342
30	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	55	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	32	+11.896 1'36.193	0.047	161.263
31	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	T. Kimura E. Masson J. Lopez	Lexus RC F GT3	30	+11.927 1'36.224	0.031	161.211
32	IRON LYNX LMGT3	60	C. Schiavoni M. Cressoni F. Perera	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	30	+11.951 1'36.248	0.024	161.171
33	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Van Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	33	+12.000 1'36.297	0.049	161.089
34	TEAM WRT LMGT3	46	A. Al Harthy V. Rossi M. Martin	BMW M4 GT3	33	+12.028 1'36.325	0.028	161.042
35	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	R. Hardwick Z. Robichon B. Barker	Ford Mustang GT3	30	+12.135 1'36.432	0.107	160.863
36	TEAM WRT LMGT3	31	D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3	31	+12.326 1'36.623	0.191	160.545
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