Kubica pole keeps pressure on in title fight in Texas

Following scorching temperatures throughout Friday’s free practice running, competitors were faced with a very different scenario during the two-part qualifying session, as light rain rendered the track slippery.

That resulted in contrasting tactics in Q1, as the two Cadillacs – fresh off the back of their breakthrough one-two finish in Brazil last time out – and #7 Toyota rolled the dice by pitting to switch from slick tyres to wets midway through. Initially, they looked to have made the right call as Alex Lynn began lighting up the timing screens, but when the rain subsequently eased again, they tumbled down the order and ultimately ended up propping up the timesheets.

That swung the advantage back in favour of Ferrari, and in the ten-minute Hyperpole showdown, it was Kubica – winner of June’s 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside team-mates Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson – who managed the situation best.

Antonio Giovinazzi looked to be the only driver likely to challenge, but a mistake by the Italian towards the end of the session effectively consigned the championship-leading Ferrari 499P to second on the grid. That secured Kubica his first Hypercar pole position in FIA WEC by a whisker under a tenth-of-a-second – and the first for a privately-entered car in the current era.

“That was one of the most challenging sessions of my life,” acknowledged the former grand prix-winner. “The grip was changing corner-by-corner, which made it difficult to find the limit and the rain was moving around, but I felt quite confident straightaway.

“I managed to build up temperature in the tyres and tried to read the track as best as I could without taking too much risk, because if you went off-line or came with too much speed, there was no room for recovery.

“I would say it was nicer to watch from outside than being in the car, but we managed to grab P1, which is a great achievement. It’s an extra championship point, which is the most valuable outcome from today, but the race will be a different story.”

Jean-Éric Vergne drew upon all of his experience to initially put Team Peugeot TotalEnergies’ 9X8 Hypercar a season-high third, but the #93 entry was subsequently demoted to the rear of the 18-car Hypercar grid after all of its lap times were deleted due to its rear rain light not being permanently switched on when the track was declared wet by the Race Director.

That elevated reigning world champion Kévin Estre to third for Porsche Penske Motorsport, with Nicklas Nielsen fourth in the #50 Ferrari and Nicolas Varrone a superb fifth in the independent Proton Competition Porsche. The Argentine ace  impressively set the pace in Q1.

The Charles Milesi-piloted #35 Alpine was next up in sixth, followed by Ryō Hirakawa in the #8 Toyota, Dries Vanthoor in the #15 BMW, Alex Riberas in the #009 Aston Martin – the new-for-2025 Valkyrie qualifying inside the top ten for the very first time – and the #5 Porsche in the hands of Julien Andlauer.

Mustangs lock out LMGT3 front row on Ford’s home soil

The ten-minute Hyperpole shootout ultimately boiled down to an internecine duel between the two American cars, piloted by Ben Tuck (#77) and Giammarco Levorato (#88), with the Briton and Italian trading quickest times as the clock ticked down.

Tuck was the first of the Proton pair to complete his final run, deposing his team-mate as he vaulted to the top of the timesheets – but Levorato was not done. Despite failing to improve through the long middle sector of the 5.513km lap, the 22-year-old rising sportscar star dug deep to reclaim pole position for tomorrow’s Lone Star Le Mans by the margin of a mere 0.018 seconds.

Even more extraordinarily, the #88 Mustang had not even been due to take part in Hyperpole after Stefano Gattuso just missed the cut in Q1, until the #87 Lexus was disqualified from third place due to Petru Umbrărescu taking the chequered flag twice.

“Stefano found some traffic on his fastest lap, which left him 11th so we were out of Hyperpole, and I was getting changed and ready to go back to the hotel,” revealed Levorato, who last year similarly clinched the Mustang’s maiden GT3 pole position in North America’s IMSA series. “Then I had to jump back into the car really quickly – the session had already been going for a few seconds!

“The conditions were not full rain, but it was still slippery for sure and there was no reference. This is also the first time for me at COTA, and I didn’t know the kerbs and everything in the wet. The car was unbelievable, though, and a one-two for Ford is a great result. Both poles (in FIA WEC and IMSA) felt amazing, but this one is more so as it’s in the world championship at Ford’s home track.”

Sean Gelael proved to be best-of-the-rest in United Autosports’ #95 McLaren, with multiple motorcycling world champion Valentino Rossi giving BMW a boost following a tough recent run in fourth.

In the only one of TF Sport’s Corvettes to reach the top ten, Jonny Edgar initially secured fifth in the #33 entry he shares with local hero Ben Keating, but that car will drop three places on the grid due to a penalty for the Texan for contact.

Lone Star Le Mans will get underway at 13:00 local time (20:00 CET) tomorrow (Sunday, 7 September).

Results are HERE