Porsche conquers changing conditions to triumph in Texas

Unseasonable rain in Texas resulted in the early stages of the six-hour race taking place behind the safety car, and following a red flag interruption, the competitive action finally got underway just before one-third distance.

Initially, it was the front row-sitting #83 and #51 Ferraris that held sway in the 18-strong Hypercar field, but the #6 Porsche in the hands of Laurens Vanthoor was never far behind in third, which became second when Philip Hanson lost more than half-a-minute due to a pit-stop delay.

Following a solid middle stint by Matt Campbell, the crucial moment came approaching the four-hour mark, when Kévin Estre exploited a tentative safety car re-start by Alessandro Pier Guidi to prise the door open into Turn One and assume a lead he would not relinquish.

Thereafter, the Frenchman was flawless, and each time his advantage was wiped out by a neutralisation, he immediately set about rebuilding it, going on to take the chequered flag a shade under ten seconds clear of his nearest pursuer. 

“The conditions were very difficult, especially when the track began to dry,” Estre explained. “The Ferrari behind was very strong towards the end and kept us under pressure, and it was a matter of deciding whether to put slicks on or not. It was tricky, but I was pretty confident the guys would make the right choice and it feels really good to be back on the top step, where we belong.”

“This feels so sweet,” echoed fellow reigning world champion Vanthoor. “We didn’t come here this weekend with the expectation of winning, but in the changeable conditions we showed that no matter our pace, we still know how to execute a race – and we did that perfectly.”

Miguel Molina brought the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P home in second after getting the better of Stoffel Vandoorne in the closing laps, as Team Peugeot TotalEnergies celebrated its best-ever collective result in FIA WEC in third and fourth with its #94 and #93 9X8 prototypes.

In the car he shares with Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi picked up a contact-induced puncture shortly after conceding the initiative to Estre that dropped the #51 499P to 13th, but the Italian subsequently scythed back through to fifth to narrowly extend the trio’s championship lead.

Their chief title rival – the independently-entered #83 Ferrari – struggled to match the speed of the two scarlet factory cars and picked up a brace of penalties that restricted it to seventh, although that was still sufficient to secure AF Corse the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams crown.

On its home soil, the #38 Cadillac split the two Italian cars in sixth, with the sister São Paulo-winning #12 V-Series.R climbing as high as third from 16th on the grid, prior to slipping back to eighth at the flag.

Ferrari’s pain is McLaren’s gain in LMGT3

VISTA AF Corse looked to have pulled off a last-gasp LMGT3 category win with its Ferrari 296, but a late sting in the tail handed victory to United Autosports’ #95 McLaren.

For much of the race, qualifying star Proton Competition was in charge with the #77 Ford Mustang, but the drying conditions in the closing stages prompted several teams to roll the dice on strategy by trading in their wet tyres for slicks. With less than five minutes to go, Davide Rigon sliced past Ben Barker to assume the lead, but contact incurred the Italian a five-second penalty – and secured McLaren its maiden FIA WEC success.

The season continues with the 6 Hours of Fuji – the penultimate round of the campaign – in the shadow of Japan’s most famous landmark on 26-28 September.

Results are HERE