Vantage GT3 Sao Paulo 2026: inside the No. 23 THOR for the 6 Hours of Interlagos, round 4 of the WEC season.
Vantage GT3 Sao Paulo is the story of six hours seen from the seat of The Heart of Racing’s No. 23, at the heart of Interlagos. On the menu: a high-intensity fourth WEC round, strategy under pressure and a key incident with the No. 83 Ferrari, against the backdrop of Aston Martin’s Brazilian heritage. Here’s what stands out, stopwatch in hand and brows kept cool.
Autódromo José Carlos Pace and Aston Martin: a familiar hunting ground
Interlagos doesn’t forgive, but it rewards consistency. Since the WEC first visited the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Aston Martin has built a distinctive record there: the marque is the only one to have stacked up multiple LMGT3 podiums in São Paulo and holds the record of eight GT top-threes on this track. A statistic that weighs on a crew’s mindset, especially when the race is the fourth round of eight in a tightly paced championship.
This 4.309 km ribbon, all elevation changes and compound-radius corners, toys with endurance like a mischievous metronome. The balance between mechanical grip and tyre conservation is crucial: nailing the apex at Pinheirinho and breathing on the drop towards Junção is often the difference between suffering and composing. That’s precisely where the DNA of Aston’s GTs—clean chassis stance and a readable rear end—has regularly shone.
In this context, lining up for the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo 2026 (10–12 July) was no unknown for Gaydon. The ground was familiar, the expectations clear: defend the GT legacy while capitalising on consistency. The overarching reference, for fans and strategists alike, boiled down to one keyword: efficiency.
THOR 2026 programme: two Vantages, a new driver trio for No. 23
In 2026, The Heart of Racing fields two Vantage GT3s in the WEC for the first time, with No. 23 taking over the programme previously run by Racing Spirit of Léman. This structural step-up aligns with Aston Martin’s ambition to chase a 12th GT world title in the WEC during this first LMGT3 campaign with two cars for THOR.
In São Paulo, No. 23 was entrusted to Gray Newell (USA), Jonny Adam (GBR) and Kobe Pauwels (BEL), with Eduardo Barrichello tied up in IMSA. A totemic figure of British endurance, Jonny Adam arrived at Interlagos with two class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, four British GT titles and 36 WEC starts to his name. A form of all-risks insurance—at least in terms of method.
Beyond the names, it’s the project’s coherence that stands out: two cars, pooled data and set-up management, and a pragmatic warm-up. For those wanting to dive in, our feature on the THOR two-car WEC 2026 programme helpfully sets this race in the team’s wider trajectory.
The race from the inside: six hours of strategy and incidents at Interlagos
From the cockpit, São Paulo hits in bursts: dense traffic, shifting temperatures, and fuel windows tweaked to the minute. The Vantage GT3 Sao Paulo was shaped by fine stint management and one pivotal episode: the No. 83 Ferrari 499P was penalised after contact with the No. 23 Aston Martin. A racing incident both clear and frustrating, it reshaped the LMGT3 equation for the THOR crew.
The rest was a classic endurance drill: preserve the rubber on the second run, make the car exist in Hypercar traffic, and execute clean stops. On the scoreboard, class honours went to the No. 34 Corvette of Racing Team Turkey by TF (Eastwood/Yoluc/Dempsey), a solid LMGT3 winner. Headline-wise, the Hypercar race was won by the No. 15 BMW (Magnussen/Vanthoor/Marciello), a second 2026 victory for BMW WRT according to the official WEC summary.
From the seat, the essence came down to three priorities: give nothing away in compressions, keep temperatures stable, and leave margin for the next fill. The THOR style—measured yet incisive—didn’t waver: work this lap, count the next. For an immersive feel for the craft, this benchmark onboard filmed at Interlagos shows the pace and traffic density over a standard stint.
The Vantage GT3 in detail: twin-turbo V8, aluminium chassis and 14 consecutive WEC seasons
The beating heart remains the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, mounted on a bonded aluminium chassis taken directly from the road car’s architecture. This choice embodies Aston Martin’s GT philosophy: a rigid, light series-production base built to absorb the strains of a global calendar. That foundation gives the car its precise front end and predictable support in Interlagos’ long loaded corners.
This road-to-track lineage isn’t just talk: it informs both development and operating strategy. To appreciate this technical continuum, our page dedicated to the second-generation Vantage and its architecture sheds light on the DNA underpinning the racing tool.
The other driving force is human. Joining THOR for the 2026 world assault with the Vantage, Jonny Adam brought a distance-honed skillset. From São Paulo to Fuji, that translates into better-targeted push windows, a more economical reading of traffic and an ability to let the machinery “breathe” without losing rhythm.
Takeaway from round four and outlook for the rest of the 2026 championship
The São Paulo verdict owes as much to context as to the track. In a crowded LMGT3, the Vantage GT3 Sao Paulo of No. 23 played its hand in the thick of the pack, with a penalty-inducing incident for the No. 83 Ferrari redrawing the race. In response, THOR’s execution stayed methodical, capitalising on tidy stints and long-run tyre management.
In the championship, the aim remains clear: Aston Martin is targeting a 12th GT title in the WEC in 2026, and the two-car structure must keep converting consistency into points. The class win for Corvette 34 and Hypercar success for BMW 15 underline the field’s depth: you have to score everywhere, all the time. To frame this Brazilian stop in the season’s opening phase, our recap of the 2026 wins at Paul Ricard and Okayama serves as a yardstick while we await what’s next.
Interlagos reinforced a simple rule: one lap can change everything, but it’s the sum of laps that makes the result. In this game of concentrated endurance, the Vantage delivered a solid brief, rich with lessons for the rounds to come. The course is set, the method too.
Conclusion — Vantage GT3 Sao Paulo, British precision under Brazilian pressure
In the end, Vantage GT3 Sao Paulo distils modern endurance: tight traffic, strategy under constraint and incidents to process without losing the thread. With its twin-turbo V8 on an aluminium chassis and the poise of an experienced crew, THOR’s No. 23 executed a coherent game plan at Interlagos. For the in-house outlook and brand news, the official Aston Martin site and the dedicated encyclopaedia page offer useful complements. The rest of the 2026 WEC season will show whether this solid base converts into heavy points—quietly, but surely.
