Lone Star Le Mans is in the books which means there are just two races left in what has been a truly remarkable WEC season. Fuji is right around the corner, with most of the WEC paddock set to fly to Japan in less than a week’s time.
But before we look forward to the championship’s annual trip to Gotemba, it’s time to reflect on last week’s meeting in Austin, won by AF Corse and Heart of Racing.
What did DSC take away from the week in Texas? Here are five things:
As an event there are visible green shoots…
In a WEC season that has attracted bumper crowds for each race since the 6 Hours of Imola back in April, the return of Lone Star Le Mans had a lot to live up to if it was to match or better the success of the events leading up to it.
The final attendance figure was a little over 65 thousand fans, which on the face of it sounds like a huge success. However, while the number of fans packing the stands was encouraging, that figure, to this writer at least, appears somewhat optimistic.
Regardless, COTA has replaced Sebring as the home of the WEC in the USA, at least for now, and the circuit’s management team appear more motivated than ever before to build Lone Star Le Mans and make it a success long term.
DSC spoke with COTA manager Andy Soucek in the build-up to the race and he made it clear that making the WEC race one of the core annual races for years to come is a priority. He sees it as one of four major events on the circuit’s annual calendar alongside the races for NASCAR, Moto GP and of course Formula One.
What did the event do well? Ticket prices were reasonable, paddock access sold out, the concerts held over the weekend were a nice addition, the IMSA support races made for an entertaining slate of track action and the fans in attendance all appeared to be lapping the experience up.
What could be improved? For starters it’s hard to know if running the race on Labor Day Weekend was a help or hindrance to this event’s allure.
On one hand, it’s a great chance for American fans to travel from further afield than normal to attend since the Monday after the race is a national holiday. On the other, it’s a weekend that people plan to spend with families, and it straddled August and September, meaning the temperature trackside was often punishing for everyone strolling the paddock, sitting in the stands, and of course, working on pit lane in fire suits.
This is clearly an event with potential though. With a little more manufacturer activation, local promotion and creativity, Lone Star Le Mans can become the cornerstone WEC event it was always supposed to be back when the championship first ventured to Austin back in 2013. All eyes are on Year 2 of its current deal now to see whether or not COTA can become a circuit that warrants a long-term contract extension.
Toyota looks like the team to beat again
Since its struggles in Qatar, it’s been a pretty strong season for Toyota Gazoo Racing, despite the lingering fear within the camp that its days as the WEC’s top dog are over.
Heading into its home race next week Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries now sit equal on points, with the #50 Ferrari trio just 13 points off the leaders in the #6 Porsche in the World Drivers’ Championship. In the Manufacturers’ standings, the picture is even rosier, the Japanese marque now leading the way by 11 points after the #7 picked up the maximum haul for finishing second overall and first of the factory cars.
Fuji is up next and Toyota’s record at the circuit is simply staggering. When was the last time it didn’t win on home turf you ask? 2015. Another big result and all of a sudden it could be Toyota’s Championships to lose when the WEC containers are unloaded in Bahrain.
A lot will be said about AF Corse’s triumph at COTA and the #6 Porsche’s recovery drive to sixth to limit the damage in the standings. But Toyota should have won this race. As the season draws to a close, TGR looks like the team to beat again.
Ye & Shwartzman are the real deal
September 1st, 2024 will surely go down in Ferrari’s racing history as a particularly memorable day, but perhaps not for the reason you may expect.
Winning both the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix and the FIA WEC’s Lone Star Le Mans race at COTA in the same 24-hour stretch was a remarkable achievement even for a manufacturer that has countless significant accolades to look back on, and multiple rooms in Maranello with trophies stacked to the ceiling.
But beyond the key stats, this is a result that may be looked back on as a significant moment for Ferrari’s factory driver roster.
And upon closer inspection, this was a race in which Ferrari’s young guns Ye Yifei and Robert Shwartzman proved they are the real deal.
AF Corse and Ferrari pushed to field a third 499P in the WEC this year because it wanted to have a platform at the top end of sportscar racing to trial young drivers that it believes have a bright future ahead of them.
Prior to yesterday’s race the #83 had its moments. It famously led the Le Mans 24 Hours for multiple hours before receiving a costly penalty for wiping out the #15 BMW during the night and retiring late in the race with a hybrid system issue.
Lone Star Le Mans therefore felt, as Ye put it, like “redemption” for June. It certainly looked like a true turning point for this effort, too. It was a complete performance from qualifying through to the end of the race. All three drivers were rapid, stayed mistake-free, and in the case of Yifei and Shwartzman, soaked up major pressure during their stints.
So what does the future now hold for Ye and Shwartzman? Further movement in the Hypercar and GTP driver market is expected in the coming weeks and months ahead of the 2025 season and beyond, and these two are now red-hot property.
All signs point to the #83 returning next season with the same line-up, and this would seem to be a smart choice as part of their ongoing development. They’ll surely be looking to move up to the top table at some point in the not-too-distant future though, and right now there’s no room at the inn. All six of Ferrari AF Corse’s factory drivers appear completely safe in their jobs after combining for back-to-back Le Mans wins.
So, will the young guns ultimately stick it out with Ferrari in the long term, or will they be tempted to switch if other factories come knocking? It will be fascinating to find out…
Pure Rxcing simply cannot be stopped
Heart of Racing’s maiden victory in the WEC with the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 deserves its fair share of plaudits after dominating Lone Star Le Mans. It was a thoroughly deserved victory, which had been a long time coming.
But yet again it feels wrong to ignore Pure Rxcing in this column. What more can be said though about the Lithuanian-flagged Porsche and its 2024 campaign in the FIA WEC’s LMGT3 class? We’re running out of superlatives at DSC HQ…
It doesn’t matter what this season throws at them, Klaus Bachler, Joel Sturm and Alex Malykhin continue to find ways to stand firm and add to their points total.
Prior to the race, Malykhin told DSC that Lone Star Le Mans was the toughest weekend so far for him and his teammates. Yet it came away with another podium to add to the collection and a bigger championship lead.
Yes BoP, yes driver rankings, but there comes a point when you have to put all that to one side and simply marvel at what this team has achieved. It hasn’t dominated every race and totally crushed the field, but it has – through six races – stayed stunningly consistent, finishing on the podium five times.
Excellence should always be celebrated and Pure Rxcing’s title charge is something that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Alpine & BMW are moving in the right direction, Peugeot isn’t
Joining the FIA WEC’s Hypercar class in 2024, with much of the field already up to speed, was never going to be a simple task for Alpine or BMW. And the results speak for themselves, with neither brand finding a way onto the podium this season.
But there are clear signs that the field as a whole is tightening, in part because the new-for-2024 Balance of Performance process is maturing, but also because Alpine and BMW are beginning to find their feet.
Alpine left Austin with its best result yet, a fifth-place finish (on merit it must be added) for the #35 which looked quick throughout the meeting. The A424, with its ORECA base, is a car that appears to have real potential, and now that a workaround has been found for the engine issue which reared its ugly head at Le Mans, it feels like ‘game on’.
BMW too looked ready for primetime throughout the Lone Star Le Mans track action, the M Hybrid V8s showing both speed and consistency. The team’s potential was on display early in the race, as both cars ran together chasing the leading Ferraris and for a time looked to be the quicker, more efficient, machines.
What a shame it is then, that the final results don’t reflect the level of performance that WRT and its drivers showed. A pair of late penalties for the #20 and a costly early spin for the #15 ultimately ruined the German brand’s race, though the latter did achieve its best finish of the season by coming home eighth. Thankfully Fuji is right around the corner. There, WRT has an opportunity to seize the momentum and take another step forward.
On the other side of the coin, Peugeot TotalEnergies’ 9X8s continue to disappoint. Yet again the French brand failed to make an impact. The team looks rather lost at sea at the moment, in desperate need of a boost at a time when its rivals in the midfield are beginning to leave it behind.
Where said improvement could come from is not yet clear. Does the 9X8 need another substantial update? Does the team need to up its game? Do the drivers need to band together and work on a solution? Is the BoP process to blame, is it blunting Peugeot’s weaponry? These are just some of the key questions that still need answering.
Peugeot, despite a concerted effort this year to change its fortunes, is the only team in the Hypercar field that hasn’t improved over the course of the season. Is it therefore time to hit the panic button?
