WEC Preview: Lone Star Le Mans
- Aaron Carroll
- Sep 3
- 7 min read
The World Endurance Championship (WEC) is finally back after a summer break, and the grid is rolling into Austin Texas for the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
Championship Picture
Hypercar
The No.51 Ferrari of Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado still lead the drivers championship on 105 points after their monstrous start to the season. Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson sit 12 points back in second after their triumph at Le Mans.
Behind those there is a 25 point gap to the No.12 Cadillac, the winners from São Paulo. Norman Nato, Alex Lynn and Will Stevens had a slow start to the season, scoring only 17 points in the first three races. But between Le Mans and Brazil they have scored 49 of their 68 total points, and hope to use their momentum in Texas.
Another 11 points back is the No.50 Ferrari, who have three non-scores in five races. However, the strength of the 499P this season means the two races they have scored were a win in Qatar and second in Spa.
Just three points behind them is the No.6 Porsche, which rounds out the top five positions. Behind them are the No.7 Toyota on 44 points, who lead a tight battle for the midfield positions. The No.38 Cadillac is next on 38 points, with the No.20 BMW and the No.8 Toyota tied on 37 points behind.
The No.36 Alpine is on 36 points, with the No.5 Porsche on 33. Those five cars are split by just five points, as we head into these crucial final races of the season.
In the manufacturers' championship, Ferrari lead Cadillac by 55 points. With Ferrari's struggles in Brazil and Cadillacs dominant showing, it may seem like a daunting task for the Jota pairing, but not entirely impossible.
The two V Series. R cars will have their eyes in their mirrors too, with Porsche only nine points behind them. From there the points differences spread out slightly, with Toyota in fourth, 16 points behind Porsche.
BMW are a further 20 points back, with Alpine in sixth with another gap of 16 points. Peugeot are in the penultimate spot on 28 points, with Aston Martin bringing up the rear with the 2 points they scored for finishing the race at Le Mans.
LMGT3
Things get much closer when we take a look at the LMGT3 class. The No.92 Manthey Porsche leads the way on 89 points, with wins in Imola and Le Mans making up the majority of their tally. The No.21 Vista AF Corse crew sit second, just 13 points back, with the No.33 TF Sport Corvette another 10 back.
Nine points back, on 57 and 56 points respectively sits the No.87 Lexus and the No.81 Corvette. It's only another eight points to the No.78 Lexus, who lead the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin by a single point.
The No.59 McLaren, No.54 Ferrari and No.10 Racing Spirit of Leman round out the top 10 all tied on 31 points. The rest of the crews follow behind in tight battles with each other, with it almost impossible to call who will come out on top in the midfield battle.
It adds to the unpredictability when you consider that not one of the 18 LMGT3 cars competing in the full season has scored points at every single race so far. We eagerly await more scintillating battles in this class in Austin.
The track
The 5.5km track comprises of a total of 20 corners - 11 to the left and nine to the right. Each and every one of them presents a new challenge to each of the drivers in both classes.
As the drivers barrel down the main straight, they will be hit by a steep incline, where they will try to find the latest possible braking point for the sharp left handed hairpin of turn 1. With this also being one of the widest parts of the track, it will be a crucial overtaking spot on Sunday.
The incline turns to a decline at the apex, with the drivers taking the turn 2 right hander flat out, before they hit what many tip to be one of the best sections of race track in the world. Turns 3, 4, 5 and 6 will come at the drivers fast, with each one requiring a lower minimum speed than the last.
Coming off the long right of 6, drivers will have to hustle the car back to the right hand side for turn 7, which sets up the slow turns of 8 and 9. Track limits on the exit of this corner are always crucial, so it will be especially important in qualifying on Saturday.
Turn 10 is a flat out left handed kink, before the heavy breaking zone for turn 11. The exit out of this corner is absolutely crucial, as it leads onto the massive 1.2km back straight. Drivers in both classes will then have to pick out a braking point at over 250 km/h for the turn 12 hairpin.
This left hander is likely where we will see the most overtaking during the race. The ensuing section of turn 13 to 15 has previously been good for side-by-side fights. These four corners come in the from of tricky hairpins.
The first - T13 - is a relatively straight forward right hand hairpin, but it leads straight into a right and left kink, before the drivers quickly approach another hairpin at turn 15. Drivers will be turning and braking at the same time here, so avoiding lock-ups will be of utmost importance. This is even more prominent for the Hypercar drivers, as they do not have the Anti-lock braking system (ABS) that the LMGT3s have.
After getting out of the hairpin, drivers will pull the car back to the left hand side to set up the triple left hander of turns 16, 17 and 18. Drivers will have to try not to understeer wide, as it can lose them tonnes of lap time.
Out of the final left, drivers swing back to the right side of the track, getting the car straight before the relatively short braking zone for turn 19. This medium speed left hander is imperative for lap times, and it is also important not to go over the track limits on the exit.
The final corner, turn 20, is a low speed left hander, leading back on to the main straight. This circuit is usually a favourite of the drivers, but they will have to balance their pace, keeping the tyres alive and the sweltering heat. It is set to be a massive challenge for all on the grid.
Entry list
There are no major entry list changes, aside from the return of drivers who competed in other series during the São Paulo round, and the absence of Mike Conway in the No.7 Toyota.
A collarbone injury during training for the event has side-lined the Briton, and he will be replaced for this round by José María López. The Argentine is a regular in the No.87 Lexus, and will in turn be replaced by Jack Hawksworth.
Weather
It is set to be a swelteringly hot weekend. Temperatures will reach highs of 36 degrees Celsius on Friday (97° F) with a very light breeze. It will be slightly cooler on Saturday and Sunday, but highs will still top 30 Celsius.
Schedule
Drivers and teams will have three hours of practice on Friday, split evenly between Free Practice 1 and 2. FP1 will get underway at 11:30 local time (16:30 GMT) and FP2 will be at 16:00 local time (21:00 GMT)
The final hour of practice on Saturday will be at 11:00 local time (16:00 GMT), followed by Qualifying at 15:00 (20:00 GMT). The main event on Sunday will start at 13:00 (18:00 GMT) and will run for six hours.
Fans at the track will also enjoy the Ford Mustang Challenge, which will have two practice sessions, one qualifying session and two races throughout the weekend.
Balance of Performance (BoP)
This weekend will see minimal changes in BoP for some, but significant changes for others.
Beginning with the latter, Cadillac have been handed an extra 19 kg of weight, along with a 5 KW reduction in power before 250 kph. This has been slightly balanced by a +0.9% increase in power after 250 kph.
Porsche will join the Jota cars in being hindered, with an extra 12 kg and 13 less KW of power before 250 kph. The 963s will have 2.5% power thereafter, but that will probably not be enough to offset the rest.
Ferrari, Peugeot and Aston Martin will see no significant changes, outside minimal changes to the maximum stint energy. On the point of stint energy, it is worth noting all Hypercars lost energy.
Alpine will carry an extra kilogram, with 6 less KW of power. BMW recieve similarly minimal changes, -2 kg and -8 KW. Toyota will get the smallest of changes, as their weight will stay the same, but they lose one single KW of power before 250 kph.
In terms of LMGT3, Mercedes are the only ones to get a change in power output. The Iron Lynx cars will go up one position on the power curve (small increase). They'll take a 5 kg reduction in weight along with that.
BMW will lose a massive 26 kg, by far the biggest break in the class. Ford lose 17 kg, Corvette lose 10 while McLaren and Porsche lose 9 and 2 respectively. The only cars to gain weight are the Aston Martin and the Ferrari, with 9 and 8 kgs respectively.
BoP has already become a hot topic for fans of the WEC, so it will be interesting to see how opinions alter with this new bulletin, and more importantly, how it affects the on track running.
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