The No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei and Robert Shwartzman grew to become the sixth automobile in six FIA WEC races in 2024 to say an total victory Saturday night at Circuit of The Americas in Texas.
AF Corse’s privately-entered automobile took the Lone Star Le Mans win in dramatic circumstances after a drive-through penalty within the ultimate hour price the No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID the lead.
Toyota’s drive-through, handed to the No. 7 crew when Kamui Kobayashi was discovered to haven’t revered yellow flags whereas marshals recovered a stranded Peugeot, finally price the Japanese producer its third win of the season.
Kobayashi and his teammates Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway have been pressured to accept second, because the Japanese ace was unable to reel in Shwartzman within the ultimate 40m. He pushed his GR010 to its limits and managed to cut back the deficit from 9.5s to 1.7s by the tip — making it the second-closest inexperienced flag end in championship historical past — however couldn’t fairly get shut sufficient to make a transfer.
The race was extremely entertaining within the closing levels and made for a really momentous event for the each No. 83 crew and Ferrari. It was the primary WEC total victory for all three drivers and the primary win for the 499P in a WEC race outdoors of the Le Mans 24 Hours. The race additionally added to a particular weekend for the Prancing Horse, which received the Method 1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza earlier within the day.
It was a strategic struggle that went by a number of levels. Within the first half, the Ferraris seemed dominant, sitting 1-2-3 after a quick begin, earlier than BMW and Cadillac climbed into rivalry 2h in. It then became a strategic battle, as each the medium and onerous Michelin compounds have been utilized within the race. The groups on the entrance have been cut up, some selected to experiment with totally different combos, and others caught to the mediums because the trackside temperature fluctuated.
The profitable Ferrari switched between working three mediums and a single right-rear onerous, and hards on all 4 corners within the race whereas the most effective Toyota and Porsche caught to mediums the entire means by. This tactic could be key to the ultimate outcome, because it stored Kubica at first, Ye within the center and Shwartzman on the finish of the race completely within the prime three.
“We might be blissful. It’s been a tricky race and we knew it will be essential with tires and site visitors administration, however the automobile labored tremendous properly. It began properly, it completed even higher. We couldn’t hope for a greater Sunday,” Kubica mentioned.
“There was plenty of stress within the ultimate laps as a result of my tires have been going away. I used to be sliding in every single place, and any mistake may have price us the victory,” added Shwartzman.
Behind the No. 7 Toyota, the rostrum was accomplished by the Le Mans-winning No. 50 Ferrari which began fourth and ran a constant, clear race en route to creating it a double podium for AF Corse.
Cadillac earned its finest results of the season in fourth however will go away barely pissed off on a day through which it had the tempo to say a podium end with a clear race.
Alpine, too, loved a standout efficiency, the No. 35 A424 finishing the highest 5 with a efficiency that implies the French marque has taken a big step ahead.
“It wasn’t an ideal weekend, however we improved. We obtained into Hyperpole and completed P5. It was not the outcome we anticipated after a tricky begin to the race and a drive-through, however we recovered and ultimately, we might be proud and construct on this,” No. 35 driver Charles Milesi instructed RACER.
BMW, then again, wasted an opportunity to come back away with its first podium within the class. The M Hybrid V8s seemed reworked early, with tempo that matched the Ferraris. Because the race wore on each automobiles light by a mix of penalties and errors. The No. 15, which suffered a spin that price a piece of time early on, was the higher positioned of the 2 on the finish, off the lead lap and eighth.
The ultimate results of Lone Star Le Mans was each historic and demanding for the championship battle. The No. 7 Toyota and No. 50 Ferrari made good points Saturday, ending forward of the championship-leading No. 6 Penske Porsche, which struggled for outright tempo, survived a heated conflict with the No. 8 Toyota and fell from fifth to sixth after a late drive-through.
By salvaging a factors end, Porsche’s Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor nonetheless maintain the lead going into the race at Fuji, however its margin has been decreased to 12 factors over the 2 chasing crews who now sit on equal factors in second.
“It’s not preferrred,” Lotterer mentioned. “I feel we may have completed fifth, we completed sixth, we didn’t use our most potential. We have been in a position to transfer ahead although from 14th on the grid which was necessary.”
Additional down the order, it was a tricky race for the Lamborghini which lacked final tempo and completed 14th. The No. 8 Toyota additionally didn’t combat on the sharp finish just like the sister automobile and finally dropped down the order when it was dealt two expensive penalties, the primary for the aforementioned contact with the No. 6 Porsche, the second for not respecting yellow flags just like the No. 7 and No. 6. It got here house fifteenth.
The No. 50 could be the one manufacturing facility Ferrari 499P to make it to the end, because the No. 51 retired within the second hour whereas sitting second. The automobile retired as contact with the No. 78 AKKODIS Lexus broken a wheel rim and led to a terminal drivetrain situation.
Giovinazzi was unable to get the automobile fired and as much as full velocity, returning to the pits below electrical energy solely earlier than stopping on the pit apron. The automobile was then pushed into the storage and withdrawn from the race, the precise cause not but disclosed.
It wasn’t the one automobile to hit mechanical hassle, because the No. 12 JOTA Porsche spent many of the race out and in of the storage with niggling points. The No. 94 Peugeot additionally didn’t make the end, the automobile pulled off to the facet of the circuit down the again straight 4h into the race, after a tricky race that started with a puncture on the opening lap attributable to contact with the No. 12.
In the meantime, LMGT3 was totally dominated by Coronary heart of Racing, which claimed a lights-to-flag win from pole with its Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 EVO pushed by Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas.
Possibly it was a home-field benefit. Possibly it was excellent execution. JEP/Motorsport Pictures
The trio have been completely faultless within the punishing warmth and accomplished the race nearly solely unchallenged, ending with a profitable margin of 20s. It was a maiden WEC LMGT3 victory for the crew, all three drivers and the 2024-spec Vantage GT3, and got here on house turf for Coronary heart of Racing. It is usually a tenth WEC class win at COTA for Aston Martin.
“Everybody labored in unison. I couldn’t be happier to do that in America,” James mentioned.
“We received at house and for us, an American crew, it’s nice,” Mancinelli added.
Behind, the championship-leading No. 92 Pure Rxcing Porsche prolonged its factors result in 28 factors with one more sturdy end, the automobile rising stronger because the race wore on.
Joel Sturm, Klaus Bachler and Alex Malykhin — on the weekend which Malykhin described because the hardest of the season as a result of climate, lack of circuit information and success ballast utilized to the automobile — dug deep and once more got here away with one other huge outcome. They not solely completed second, however crossed the road forward of their title rivals too.
“Our crew is simply so good and we make such good strategic choices that we find yourself in good positions. I’m actually pleased with second. It’s not a win however it’s not mega dangerous!” Sturm reacted. “Tempo wasn’t the important thing at the moment. We simply stayed out of hassle and didn’t make errors.”
By pulling away even additional within the factors battle, the Lithuanian-flagged crew has edged ever nearer to claiming the LMGT3 drivers’ and groups’ championship.
“We didn’t have the tempo for P1,” Sturm mentioned. “It’s been robust, however we’re selecting up the factors and that’s necessary.”
Finishing the rostrum and securing a double podium for Porsche was the Manthey EMA 911. Yasser Shahin, Richard Lietz and Morris Schuring, like their Manthey teammates within the No. 92, fought by the sphere and have been rewarded handsomely for staying out of hassle. In championship phrases, it was injury limitation, ending simply behind Pure Rxcing retains them within the combat.
It was a worse state of affairs for WRT’s No. 31 crew of Augusto Farfus, Darren Leung and Sean Gelael, who completed fifth behind the No. 59 United Autosports McLaren and now head to Fuji 34 factors adrift.
