Austin WEC – Fire and Rain
Words and photos by Eddie LePine and Porsche Motorsport
I just made my annual trek to Austin and the Circuit of the Americas for the only US round of the
2025 FIA-WEC series. It has been an outstanding season of WEC endurance racing which began
in Qatar at the end of February and will finish up in Bahrain on November 8.
To date, it has been Ferrari’s year, with the Prancing Horse having taken overall wins in Qatar,
Imola, Le Mans and Spa, with Cadillac scoring a single win in Brazil. Heading to Texas,
manufacturers Toyota, Porsche, Peugeot, Alpine and BMW were still looking for their first win
of the season.
Autograph session
How is Texas in September? How about hot, hot, hot. It was well over 100 degrees when I
arrived at the circuit on Thursday and although a tiny bit cooler on Friday (still about 100
degrees), it seemed very hot and humid for this Florida resident who is used to hot
temperatures in the summertime.
Saturday for qualifying was a bit more pleasant, with temps in the high 80s, but the weather forecast for race day was ominous, with the promise of a ton of rain. We had a preview of Sunday’s weather with showers and changing conditions during qualifying.
It was nice to see American driver, Texas native and fan favorite Ben Keating on hand, piloting
the TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R, who was looking for his second win of the season (having won
the first race of the season at Qatar). American fans miss seeing Ben with his familiar Wynns
sponsorship, since he has not been racing in the IMSA WeatherTech series this season.
Ben Keating’s ride at COTA
Of course, all the attention was focused on the Hypercar field, which was represented by
manufacturers Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac, Toyota, BMW, Alpine, Peugeot and Aston Martin. They
may be last in the point standings in this, their first-year racing in Hypercar, but one would be
hard pressed to find a car that sounds better than the normally aspirated Aston Martin
Valkyrie with its sweet song of 12 cylinders at redline as the car speeds down the main straight.
Outstanding. Sooner rather than later, that car will be sorted and going for wins.
In a hint of things to come on Sunday, qualifying was held in challenging conditions with on and
off light rain. In the end, it was former Formula One and Le Mans winner Robert Kubica
setting the fastest lap in the AF Corse Ferrari 499P which he would be sharing with Philip
Hanson and Yifei Ye, .096 of a second ahead of the #51 Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi,
James Caldo and Antonio Giovinazzi. Third on the grid was the #93 Peugeot 9X8, with an
outstanding performance, just .964 off of pole.
Pole winning Ferrari.
As forecast and promised, race day was wet – very wet. So wet, in fact, that the field paraded
around behind the pace car for almost two hours of the 6-hour race under full course caution
conditions due to (mostly) flooded parts of the track. Finally, the race was red-flagged and all the cars came to a stop on the main straight as the pace car needed to refuel, and in the
confusion of changing pace cars, some race cars got out of order.
Wet conditions at COTA. Porsche Motorsport
The rains finally lightened up and then it was about a three-hour sprint in ever changing
conditions, where tire and pit stop strategy played a major part in the outcome of the race.
In the end, it was the Porsche Penske #6, piloted by Matt Campbell, Laurens Vanthoor and
Kevin Estre taking the victory (Porsche’s first of the year), with the #50 Ferrari 499P of Antonio
Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen taking second. Rounding out the podium was the #94
Peugeot 9X8 of Duval, Jakobsen and Vandoorne, with their sister Peugeot taking 4 th . The top ten
Hypercar finishers finished on the lead lap.
In GT3 it was McLaren taking the win after a five second time penalty was levied on the #54
Ferrari for contact with the #77 Ford Mustang.
Next up is the 6-Hours of Fuji in Japan on September 28 and the final race of the 2025 season
which will be held at Bahrain with an eight-hour race on November 8.
Robert Kubica
Going into the last two rounds, Ferrari is sitting pretty atop of the manufacturer’s championship
along with their drivers. Porsche is second while Cadillac is third. It would take a major collapse
by Ferrari to lose the championship with two rounds remaining, but as they say, it ain’t over
’til it is over. Porsche and Cadillac are the only two manufacturers who are still in the hunt, as
Toyota, BMW, Alpine, Peugeot and Aston Martin are too far back in the standings to have any
real shot at the championship.
Race winner Kevin Estre: “Winning the Lone Star Le Mans in Austin feels absolutely amazing.
We were positively surprised, because on a dry track during practice we were never among the
frontrunners. In qualifying we set a good foundation in tricky conditions. From third on the grid,
we were able to deliver a spotless performance in the race. I’m proud to be part of this great
team.”
So, there you have it from Austin, another classic endurance race in the history books. Thanks
to the FIA-WEC for their hospitality and to the Circuit of the Americas for bringing them to
America. Well done by all.
Until next time, we’ll see you at the races.
