Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA locked out the front row of the grid in Saturday’s Hyperpole session, but Kevin Magnussen swiftly split the two V-Series.Rs behind the wheel of the #15 BMW M Team WRT entry when the race got going. After forcing his way past Earl Bamber for second at the famous Ferradura corner on lap 11, the Dane went on to hunt down Will Stevens ahead.

With the #12 Cadillac encountering a wheel nut delay in its first pit-stop, the M Hybrid V8 assumed a net lead that it would not subsequently relinquish. That was thanks to feisty performances from both Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello, and a composed final couple of stints by an under-the-weather Dries Vanthoor.

In the closing stages of the six-hour bout, the Belgian found himself under threat from both the #51 Ferrari and recovering #12 Cadillac, ultimately holding his nerve to take the chequered flag in front of defending world champion James Calado, with Stevens not far behind in third. The result represented the first time the Brazilian round on the calendar has ever been won from beyond the front row of the grid.

“This has been a long time coming,” reflected Magnussen, a former pole-sitter at Interlagos during his Formula 1 career. “I’m just so happy to finally get the victory. I think we had the quickest car today, and it was an absolute pleasure to drive. Everything was on-point, from the strategy to the pit-stops and my two team-mates did an amazing job.”

Evidencing the ultra-tight nature of the Hypercar battle, less than seven seconds blanketed the top three at the end of a race that was only briefly interrupted by a short Full Course Yellow period in the second hour and in which all 35 starters reached the finish line.

In LMGT3, Corvette made it two-from-two, as the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF entry crewed by Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluç and Peter Dempsey followed up the sister #33 car’s win in last month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.