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If you are a local and think of Circuit of the Americas, you likely associate the track with Formula 1, the world’s highest profile motor racing competition. The venue was built back in 2012 specifically to host Formula 1, but COTA is also home to the United States legs of several other worldwide racing series. Last weekend saw the return of the FIA World Endurance Championship to the Austin track.
Whereas Formula 1 events have 20 cars on track with all cars built to the same set of rules, WEC races feature up to 36 cars from two distinct classes resulting in exciting viewing for spectators and a great deal of overtaking. The top tier Hypercars, highly specialized cars custom designed and built by manufacturers including Cadillac, Toyota, Ferrari and Porsche, can reach speeds of up to 205mph. The lower tier LMGT3 class cars, from manufacturers including Ford, Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin, more closely resemble sports cars seen on the road but are modified and race-tuned to reach speeds of up to 185mph.
Different WEC races vary in duration from 6 hours all the way up to the iconic “24 Hours of Le Mans” event. The Austin race, “Lone Star Le Mans”, is a 6 hour race during which the cars are driven by teams of 3 drivers, swapping when pitstops are needed to refuel. The car that completes the highest number of laps during the race duration is declared the winner.
This year’s race weekend started with a sunny Friday, but rain pushed in on Saturday to complicate matters for teams during afternoon qualification runs. Hypercar pole was won by Robert Kubica in the Ferrari AF Corse #83 and the LMGT3 leader was Proton Competition’s Ford Mustang #77 driven by Ben Barker.
By race time on Sunday afternoon, the circuit was under grey cloud and constant rainfall. An attempt was made to start the race on time at 1 p.m. but a very wet track and poor visibility left competitors circling the track behind the safety car for an hour before the red flag came out and racing stopped. After a delay, a second attempt to start was more successful and racing eventually got under way in still-wet but manageable conditions almost two hours after the original start time.
The rain persisted until the final hour of the race when the drying track left teams wresting with the decision of whether to pit to replace worn rain tires with slicks. In the end, Porsche Penske Motorsport #6 was the first hypercar to cross the line with Ferrari AF Corse #50 8.5 seconds behind it and Peugeot TotalEnergies #93 a mere 0.8 seconds behind the Ferrari.
In the LMGT3 race, the win was initially awarded to Vista AF Corse Ferrari #54 but a stewards investigation into an incident in the last few laps resulted in the Ferrari being given a ten second penalty, dropping it from first to third. The eventual winner was United Autosports McLaren #95 with Team WRT BMW #46 a mere 0.2 seconds behind.
The teams now pack up and head to Japan for the 7th race in the 2025 season, the 6 Hours of Fuji, which will be held on the weekend of September 26-28.
