The summer break is over and the FIA WEC is back in action, this time in the USA with a return to Circuit of The Americas for the sixth round of the 2024 season.
The last time the WEC visited COTA, back in February 2020, sportscar racing was struggling for relevance. The race was held as a stand-in for São Paulo after its event that season was cancelled and took place a few weeks before the world froze for the Pandemic. And while there were rumblings of a new virus on the horizon, that weekend the paddock was more focused on the state of the championship and what looked like a murky future ahead.
Just three top-class cars made the trip stateside, with a single Rebellion R13 taking on, and beating, Toyota’s all-conquering TS050 HYBRIDs. But that wasn’t the headline of the weekend. The 2020 edition of Lone Star Le Mans is often remembered for its news cycle, as in the build-up to race day the story broke that Aston Martin was shelving its original Valkyrie Hypercar programme. That left just Glickenhaus and Toyota as the only confirmed Hypercar entries for the category’s debut season.
Fast forward four years, the Valkyrie programme has been revived and the WEC is in a stronger position than ever. The hope is that the current era we’re lapping up will lead to a memorable, well-attended meeting at a circuit which always produces spectacular multi-class racing, but has often failed to attract a huge crowd.
The primary focus for the weekend lies in the Hypercar title race, which is heating up nicely as the end of the season approaches.
After Toyota’s win in Brazil, the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship has tightened considerably. Porsche, having finished on the podium at each round, leads the way with 126 points and sits four ahead of Toyota with 122 points, its title changes boosted by the victory in São Paulo.
Ferrari, buoyed by its win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, remains in the hunt with 109 points. With 91 still up for grabs, it’s a three-way battle for the title between Porsche, Toyota, and Ferrari and this round could prove to be pivotal.
In the driver’s standings, with a win, three second-place finishes and a fourth, the #6 Porsche trio of Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor continues to hold the lead in the standings. They increased their advantage in Brazil to 19 points as a result of the #50 Ferrari crew’s sixth place finish.
How will the Italian marque respond? Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen expect CoTA to be a stronger circuit for the 499P, which received its first ‘Joker’ update before the race in Brazil, and the hope is that a stronger finish in Texas will bring them closer to the #6 crew for the race in Fuji.
The full-season duo in the #7 Toyota – Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries – have the same aim, they hope to improve on their fourth-place finish in São Paulo, a race which the sister car dominated and head to Toyota’s home race with a chance to ensure they can take the title race down to the wire in Bahrain.
Will the BoP changes for Austin hurt its chances? Everyone bar Porsche and Toyota has had a weight reduction for this one, with Peugeot seeing the biggest change with a 14 kg reduction.
Porsche and Toyota meanwhile, have seen their weight increase by two and five kilos respectively, with Toyota also receiving a minus nine KW max power adjustment below 250 kph and a six megajoule reduction in maximum stint energy. As ever though, it would be unwise to read too much into these changes, we won’t know their true impact until we see the performance levels on track.
Elsewhere in the top class, this is the first race weekend without Isotta Fraschini this year. The Italian marque has split with Duqueine and withdrawn its programme from the championship with the car en route to the circuit. That leaves the class at a still very impressive 18 cars.
There are, however, still plenty of storylines to follow beyond the title battles. After a successful multi-day test at CoTA in July and time to regroup, it will be interesting to see what Cadillac can achieve in its home race, whether Peugeot can build on its points finish in São Paulo, JOTA can move on from its tough outing in Brazil and BMW can finally find a way to battle at the sharp end.
Alpine didn’t test in Texas but has spent the summer working on the engine and MGU management ahead of a busy off-season to come.
Then there’s LMGT3, and yet again the headline here is: ‘Can Manthey be stopped?’
The two Porsche 911 GT3 R 992s continue to sit 1-2 in the standings, though WRT’s #31 trio are now just a point off the EMA drivers who sit second, after incidents and penalties led to a 12th-place finish in Brazil. However, that plus another win for Pure Rxcing’s Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm means the #92 car now holds a commanding 25-point lead.
Like Hypercar, it’s a three-way battle for the title, as Heart of Racing’s 11th place finish at Spa and DNF at Le Mans has reduced its Aston Martin to a distant fourth.
Success ballast will surely play its part in Austin for the Manthey Porsches and lead WRT BMW, but additional weight hasn’t led to a win for anyone other than Manthey or WRT thus far.
If we see a new winner this weekend, where will it come from? Heart of Racing has been knocking on the door at times this season with its new Vantage AMR LMGT3 EVO, with second-place finishes at Rounds 1 and 5.
United Autosports has been taking steps forward each weekend too and scored third and fourth-place finishes at Interlagos with its McLaren GT3 EVOs.
What about Iron Dames? It’s been a rather torrid year so far for the all-female crew, with struggles in both the ELMS LMGT3 class with its Porsche and the WEC with its Lamborghini.
All too often the team has shown pace in Qualifying but had its chances of victory scuppered by incidents or misfortune.
We know that Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting have the speed and talent to thrive, after winning at Bahrain last year and in the ELMS at Imola this year, they just need to put everything together over an entire race meeting to get back to their best.
Proton Competition with its Ford Mustangs could also be a factor too. The Mustang has been steadily improving on both sides of the Atlantic in its debut year, and the team receives a welcome boost in the form of a one-off drive for 2023 GTE Am champion Ben Keating in the #88 alongside Dennis Olsen and Mikkel Pedersen.
Can the Texan help deliver the ‘Blue Oval’ its first LMGT3 win on his home circuit? You’d be foolish to bet against it…
Race action kicks off on Friday, August 30, with practice sessions, followed by qualifying and Hyperpole on Saturday. The six-hour race will start at 13:00 local time on Sunday.
Images courtesy of WEC
