Lone Star Le Mans, the fifth round of the World Endurance Championship season, delivered a chaotic and strategic 6 hours at the Circuit of The Americas, with Ferrari emerging victorious after a race that swung between several manufacturers before being decided in the closing minutes.
Antonio Giovinazzi started from pole in the #51 Ferrari 499P after an extraordinary Hyperpole session in which he and Jack Aitken recorded exactly the same 1:52.445 lap. Giovinazzi took pole by virtue of setting the time first, giving Ferrari the advantage over the #38 Cadillac.
The race itself began in difficult conditions. Rain arrived shortly before the start, leaving parts of COTA wet while others were already drying. Two additional formation laps were required before the field finally went racing. Once the green flag fell, Giovinazzi held the lead while Aitken remained close behind.
The opening hour was already eventful. André Lotterer charged forward in the #17 Genesis before making contact with the #50 Ferrari while attempting a move, spinning the Genesis and dropping it down the order. Giovinazzi benefited from an early caution period, while Aitken was held up by LMGT3 traffic. After one hour, the Ferrari led the Cadillac by 4.679 seconds.
From there, however, the race became increasingly difficult to predict. The various pit strategies shuffled Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac and Alpine into the lead at different stages. Miguel Molina brought the #50 Ferrari to the front during the second hour, while penalties and differing fuel strategies continued to alter the order.
By halfway, Earl Bamber had moved the #38 Cadillac into the lead. A Virtual Safety Car for debris then developed into a Safety Car period, effectively resetting a race in which the leading Hypercars had been following different strategies. Antonio Félix da Costa’s #35 Alpine and Tom Gamble’s #007 Aston Martin followed Bamber at the halfway mark, while Ferrari’s #51 had recovered from a lengthy pit-stop delay after the car initially failed to refire.
The second half turned into a battle of strategy and outright pace. Toyota remained firmly in contention, with the #7 and #8 cars repeatedly featuring near the front alongside Ferrari, Cadillac and Alpine. Your race notes captured the closing stages particularly well: with only 20 minutes remaining, the #7 Toyota, #50 Ferrari, #35 Alpine and #38 Cadillac were separated by just ten seconds.
Then came the decisive moment
With only around 12 minutes remaining, Nyck de Vries lost the lead in the #7 Toyota after a hydraulic pressure problem. Toyota had been chasing its first COTA victory, but the failure forced the car into retirement and dramatically changed the complexion of the race.
Nicklas Nielsen consequently inherited the lead in the #50 Ferrari 499P and brought the car home to secure Ferrari’s victory. The #35 Alpine had initially appeared set for second, but a five-second penalty for an unsafe release during the final pit sequence dropped it to third.
That promoted the #38 Cadillac to second, giving Hertz Team JOTA a strong result after Jack Aitken had started alongside Giovinazzi on the front row. Alpine completed the podium, while Genesis’ #17 recovered from its early incident to finish seventh, its best result of the season to that point.
Heart of Racing Aston Martin converts pace into LMGT3 victory
The LMGT3 race at the 2026 Lone Star Le Mans was every bit as unpredictable as the Hypercar contest, with changing conditions, contact and strategy reshaping the order throughout the six-hour race.
Heart of Racing entered the weekend with a strong package, locking out the front row in LMGT3 Hyperpole. Eduardo Barrichello put the #23 Aston Martin on pole with a 2:05.160, while teammate Zacharie Robichon placed the #27 Aston Martin second. It marked another strong qualifying performance for Aston Martin, which had established itself as the manufacturer to beat over one lap.
That advantage did not immediately translate into control of the race. The difficult conditions at the start produced a frantic opening, with several Bronze drivers struggling for grip as the track remained wet in places and dry in others. The #58 McLaren spun early, while Ben Keating’s #33 Corvette was also caught up in an incident.
The first hour saw the #91 Manthey Porsche move into the lead, with the #27 Aston Martin close behind. The #21 AF Corse Ferrari also featured strongly, while the Proton Ford Mustangs initially ran at the sharp end before penalties and damage disrupted their race.
The attrition continued as the race developed. The #69 BMW suffered contact with the #78 Lexus, filling the cockpit with smoke, while the sister #32 BMW subsequently lost significant time with a power-related problem. Later, the #92 Manthey Porsche suffered steering problems and spent several laps in the garage.
The #10 McLaren also endured a difficult race, suffering a puncture after earlier contact, while the #78 Lexus was forced to stop after losing its bonnet. Debris from the Lexus ultimately contributed to another VSC period, further increasing the importance of pit strategy.
As the race entered its later stages, the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin emerged as the car to beat. The Aston Martin, which had already shown strong long-run pace in practice and qualifying, benefited from the team’s consistency as rivals fell away through penalties, contact and mechanical problems.
The final result saw the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin take the LMGT3 victory, ahead of the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG and the #91 Manthey Porsche. That result was particularly significant for Heart of Racing, which had converted its strong COTA pace into a home victory after spending much of the race fighting through a constantly changing order.
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