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The Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac is finding the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo far more challenging this year compared to last season, when it smoothly converted a front-row lockout into the manufacturer’s maiden World Endurance Championship (WEC) victory.

Early in the race, just 18 minutes into the first hour, Kevin Magnussen in the No. 15 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 managed to split the Cadillacs, overtaking Earl Bamber in the No. 38 Cadillac V-Series.R during the initial skirmish with traffic on Sunday afternoon at Interlagos.

Magnussen and the No. 15 crew continue their hunt for a breakthrough win, while BMW currently sits just one step away from the top position in the WEC standings, trailing Toyota. Most of BMW’s championship points have come from the No. 20 team’s victory at Spa and their podium finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

When asked whether his strong performance at Interlagos was connected to his previous Formula 1 success at the same venue, Magnussen replied, “No, just motivated to try and get a win. We didn’t win a race last year, and we haven’t won a race this year, so we’re just very, very fired up to try and fight for victory. And I think we have three qualified people here today, which was great. And yeah, I felt like we should push and see if we can get a win.”

In the second hour, the pole-sitting No. 12 Cadillac encountered its first major setback when a wheel nut got jammed during its third pit stop of the day, costing precious time in the pits and surrendering the overall lead under the main race strategy.

Later in the third hour, Norman Nato’s exit from the pit lane turned problematic after he flat-spotted the tires and spun into the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari, which was being driven by Phil Hanson at the time.

During much of the middle portion of the third hour, the Alpine A424 led under the alternate strategy, followed by the BMWs — with the No. 15 running the primary plan and the No. 20 on the secondary. The Alpines made their pit stop with 15 minutes left in the stint, handing the lead back to the No. 15 BMW. With eight minutes remaining, the No. 20 BMW stopped for energy and fresh tires, allowing the No. 12 Cadillac to reclaim second place. Throughout this stint, Nato was instructed to close the gap and overtake the No. 20 BMW of Sheldon Van Der Lande, as Hanson in the No. 83 Ferrari was closing in. However, Nato couldn’t make the pass before the No. 20 headed into its final pit stop of the first half.

At the halfway mark, the No. 83 Ferrari held the final provisional podium position, ahead of the No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P and the No. 38 Cadillac.

In the LMGT3 category, the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette leads the class, followed by the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang and the pole-sitting No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin EVO.