Ferrari back on top in COTA with 1-2 in Lone Star Le Mans qualifying

The No.83 AF Corse Ferrari in Brazil | Credit: Ferrari Hypercar

Qualifying for the Hypercars got underway, and it was a damp session for the drivers. Light rain was falling over the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for the World Endurance Championship (WEC) grid, as they tip-toed out of the pits.

Ferrari were back to their winning ways, with the Le Mans winning No.83 taking pole for the Lone Star Le Mans at the hands of veteran Robert Kubica. The No.51 made it a prancing horse 1-2, in a session filled with tricky conditions.

Qualifying

The rain seemed to be heavier than the earlier LMGT3 session, with drivers having to be brave to get the cars around the circuit.

The first flying laps that came through were slower than that of the GT3 cars, by multiple seconds. That showed that there was both more time to come, and more water on the track. It was the two factory Ferraris on top during the first runs, but there were massive improvements coming.

Alex Lynn in the No.12 Cadillac came into the pits for wets, but he was the only one to jump off the slicks for the moment, before his teammate Earl Bamber followed, as did Kamui Kobayashi in the Toyota.

Meanwhile, Kévin Estre hit the top of the timing sheets in the No.6 Porsche, before the Proton Porsche went almost three tenths quicker. Third was the No.93 Peugeot, ahead of the No.50 Ferrari and the No.5 Porsche.

Antonio Giovinazzi went to the top briefly, before being dethroned by both of the other Ferraris and Estre. Nico Varrone in the No.99 went top again, but in the drop zone was the No.20 BMW, both Aston Martins, the No.94 Peugeot, No.35 Alpine and both Cadillacs.

The No.99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 | Credit: Porsche Newsroom

Lynn's wet tyre gamble worked, he went second, almost three tenths behind the No.99. More slick runners improved though, with the Ferraris and Porsches going ahead of Lynn, as did Dries Vanthoor in the No.15 BMW. The Cadillac driver was quickly out of the top 10. Varrone went quickest again, by six tenths of a second.

Green and purple sectors were everywhere you looked on the final laps, with Jean-Éric Vergne jumping out of the drop zone, as did Mick Schumacher. The No.009 Aston Martin jumped to eighth, getting the Valkyrie into Hyperpole.

So out of that hectic qualifying was the No.5 Porsche, No.94 Peugeot, No.36 Alpine, No.20 BMW, No.007 Aston Martin, No.38 Cadillac, No.12 Cadillac and the No.7 Toyota. The wet tyres did not work out for those bottom three cars in the end.

Varrone in the privateer Porsche topped the session though, a massive achievement for that crew.

Hyperpole

Then there were 10, given just 10 minutes to go for pole. Before the green flag, the No.50 and No.83 Ferraris had a close moment in the pit lane, but both drivers avoided clashing.

Giovinazzi in the No.51 was quickest out of the gates, he was at the front of the queue so had plenty of space to get good tyre temperature. Robert Kubica went less than a tenth quicker in the No.83, those two almost nine tenths quicker than Estre in third place.

Giovinazzi was on track to take that top spot back, but went wide at the penultimate corner and lost the lap. Varrone improved to fifth, and Vergne went third in the No.93 Peugeot. It seemed to be getting very wet in sector 3, almost impossible to improve.

Vanthoor in the BMW had a very scary moment, with a big snap of the rear. The Belgian just managed to keep it out of the wall, and that was his session finished.

In the end no one else could improve so it was Kubica in the No.83 on pole. Then came the No.51 sister car and the No.93 Peugeot. The No.6 Porsche was fourth with the No.50 Ferrari rounding out the top five.

Then came Varrone in the No.99, the No.35 Alpine, No.8 Toyota, No.15 BMW and the No.009 Aston Martin.

Ferrari will be back at the front of the field for the Lone Star Le Mans. Tune in to DIVEBOMB's website tomorrow for LIVE coverage of the entire race.

The No.93 has since lost its third place start. Read more here.