2024 Lone Star Le Mans
| Event information | |
|---|---|
| Round 6 of 8 in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship | |
 | |
| Date | September 1 2024 |
| Location | Austin, Texas |
| Venue | Circuit of the Americas |
| Duration | 6 hours |
| Results | |
| Laps completed | 183 |
| Distance (km) | 1008.582 |
| Distance (miles) | 626.704 |
| Hypercar | |
| Pole position | |
| Time | 1:50.390 |
| Team |  Ferrari AF Corse |
| Drivers | Antonio Giovinazzi |
| Winners | |
| Team | AF Corse |
| Drivers |  Robert Kubica Ye Yifei Robert Shwartzman |
| LMGT3 | |
| Winners | |
| Team |  Heart of Racing |
| Drivers | Ian James Daniel Mancinelli Alex Riberas |
The 2024 Lone Star Le Mans was an endurance sportscar racing event held on September 1, 2024, as the sixth of eight rounds of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship. It was the seventh running of the event as part of the World Endurance Championship, and the first running of the event since 2020.[1]
Background
[edit]The event was announced on June 9, 2023, during the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend, replacing the previously run 1000 Miles of Sebring as the contract with IMSA for an event at Sebring running as a double-header with the 12 Hours of Sebring expired in 2023.[1][2]
Entry list
[edit]36 cars entered the race: 18 in Hypercar and 18 in LMGT3. Isotta Fraschini, who previously competed in the Hypercar category, withdrew from the championship prior to the race following disputes with Duqueine Team.[3]
Schedule
[edit]| Date | Time (local: CDT) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, August 30 | 12:40 | Free Practice 1 |
| 17:10 | Free Practice 2 | |
| Saturday, August 31 | 11:00 | Free Practice 3 |
| 15:00 | Qualifying - LMGT3 | |
| 15:20 | Hyperpole - LMGT3 | |
| 15:40 | Qualifying - Hypercar | |
| 16:00 | Hyperpole - Hypercar | |
| Sunday, September 1 | 13:00 | Race |
| Source:[4] | ||
Practice
[edit]Three practice sessions were held: two were held on Friday, and one on Saturday. The sessions on Friday morning and Friday afternoon lasted 90 minutes, and the session on Saturday morning lasted 60 minutes.[4]
Practice 1
[edit]The first practice session started at 12:40 CDT on Friday. Matt Campbell topped the session in the No. 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry, with a lap time of 1:53.574. He was 0.460 seconds quicker than second-placed Robert Kubica in the No. 83 AF Corse entry, and Oliver Rasmussen finished third in the No. 38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche.[5] Alessio Rovera was quickest in the LMGT3 category: he lapped the circuit in 2 minute, 6.263 seconds, in the No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari. He placed ahead of the two Proton Competition Ford Mustangs, with the No. 88 of Dennis Olsen and No. 77 of Ben Barker who scored times of 2:06.475 and 2:06.720 respectively.[6] The session was briefly red-flagged due to a technical issue in Race Control, and was extended by five minutes in compensation.[5]
| Class | No. | Entrant | Driver | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hypercar | 5 |  Porsche Penske Motorsport
|
 Matt Campbell
|
1:53.574 | |
| LMGT3 | 55 | AF Corse
|
Alessio Rovera
|
2:06.253 | |
| Source:[7][8] | |||||
- Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Practice 2
[edit]The second practice session started at 17:10 CDT on Friday, and ended with Antonio Giovinazzi in the No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse on top, with a time of 1:52.268. He was 0.052 seconds quicker than second-placed Antonio Fuoco in the sister No. 50 Ferrari. Third-quickest was Robin Frijns in the No. 20 BMW M Team WRT; he was 0.115 seconds slower than Giovinazzi.[9] The No. 82 TF Sport Corvette of Daniel Juncadella was quickest in LMGT3: Juncadella lapped the circuit in 2 minutes, 5.630 seconds. He was 0.043 seconds quicker than the No. 55 Ferrari of Rovera in second, with Davide Rigon rounding out the top three in the sister No. 54 Ferrari.[10] The session saw one stoppage, when the No. 20 BMW with Sheldon van der Linde behind the wheel suddenly stopped with 46 minutes to go.[9]
| Class | No. | Entrant | Driver | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hypercar | 51 | Ferrari AF Corse
|
Antonio Giovinazzi
|
1:52.268 | |
| LMGT3 | 82 |  TF Sport
|
Daniel Juncadella
|
2:05.630 | |
| Source:[11][12] | |||||
- Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Final practice
[edit]The third and final practice session started at 11:00 CDT on Saturday. Alex Lynn was quickest in the No. 2 Cadillac Racing entry, with a lap time of 1:51.471. He was 0.040 seconds quicker than Fuoco in the No. 50 Ferrari in second place, with Kamui Kobayashi rounding out the top three in the No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry.[13] LMGT3 was once again led by Juncadella in the No. 82 Corvette, with a lap time of 2:05.178. His lap time was 0.173 seconds quicker than the lap time of Charlie Eastwood in the No. 81 Corvette, whilst Rigon was third in the No. 54 Ferrari, 0.364 seconds slower than Juncadella.[14]
| Class | No. | Entrant | Driver | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hypercar | 2 | Cadillac Racing
|
Alex Lynn
|
1:51.471 | |
| LMGT3 | 82 | TF Sport
|
Daniel Juncadella
|
2:05.178 | |
| Source:[15][16] | |||||
- Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Qualifying
[edit]Qualifying results
[edit]Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.
| Pos | Class | No. | Entrant | Qualifying | Hyperpole | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hypercar | 51 | Ferrari AF Corse
|
1:50.734 | 1:50.390 | 1 |
| 2 | Hypercar | 83 | AF Corse
|
1:51.233 | 1:50.667 | 2 |
| 3 | Hypercar | 2 | Cadillac Racing
|
1:51.073 | 1:50.680 | 3 |
| 4 | Hypercar | 35 |  Alpine Endurance Team
|
1:51.318 | 1:50.751 | 4 |
| 5 | Hypercar | 50 | Ferrari AF Corse
|
1:51.059 | 1:50.818 | 5 |
| 6 | Hypercar | 5 | Porsche Penske Motorsport
|
1:51.368 | 1:50.874 | 6 |
| 7 | Hypercar | 20 |  BMW M Team WRT
|
1:51.445 | 1:50.882 | 7 |
| 8 | Hypercar | 15 | BMW M Team WRT
|
1:51.379 | 1:50.938 | 8 |
| 9 | Hypercar | 7 |  Toyota Gazoo Racing
|
1:51.389 | 1:50.951 | 9 |
| 10 | Hypercar | 12 | Hertz Team Jota
|
1:51.639 | 1:51.532 | 10 |
| 11 | Hypercar | 93 | Peugeot TotalEnergies
|
1:51.659 | 11 | |
| 12 | Hypercar | 8 | Toyota Gazoo Racing
|
1:51.720 | 12 | |
| 13 | Hypercar | 36 | Alpine Endurance Team
|
1:51.969 | 13 | |
| 14 | Hypercar | 6 | Porsche Penske Motorsport
|
1:51.984 | 14 | |
| 15 | Hypercar | 94 | Peugeot TotalEnergies
|
1:52.081 | 15 | |
| 16 | Hypercar | 99 | Proton Competition
|
1:52.225 | 16 | |
| 17 | Hypercar | 38 | Hertz Team Jota
|
1:52.320 | 17 | |
| 18 | Hypercar | 63 | Lamborghini Iron Lynx
|
1:52.426 | 18 | |
| 19 | LMGT3 | 27 | Heart of Racing Team
|
2:06.146 | 2:05.587 | 19 |
| 20 | LMGT3 | 85 | Iron Dames
|
2:06.009 | 2:05.759 | 20 |
| 21 | LMGT3 | 55 | Vista AF Corse
|
2:06.356 | 2:06.001 | 21 |
| 22 | LMGT3 | 92 |  Manthey PureRxcing
|
2:06.414 | 2:06.176 | 22 |
| 23 | LMGT3 | 81 | TF Sport
|
2:06.256 | 2:06.287 | 23 |
| 24 | LMGT3 | 54 | Vista AF Corse
|
2:06.972 | 2:06.312 | 24 |
| 25 | LMGT3 | 59 | United Autosports
|
2:07.025 | 2:06.521 | 25 |
| 26 | LMGT3 | 777 | D'station Racing
|
2:06.818 | 2:06.609 | 26 |
| 27 | LMGT3 | 88 | Proton Competition
|
2:06.633 | 2:06.650 | 27 |
| 28 | LMGT3 | 31 | Team WRT
|
2:07.108 | 2:07.483 | 28 |
| 29 | LMGT3 | 95 | United Autosports
|
2:07.112 | 29 | |
| 30 | LMGT3 | 78 | Akkodis ASP Team
|
2:07.184 | 30 | |
| 31 | LMGT3 | 82 | TF Sport
|
2:07.328 | 31 | |
| 32 | LMGT3 | 77 | Proton Competition
|
2:07.431 | 32 | |
| 33 | LMGT3 | 46 | Team WRT
|
2:07.459 | 33 | |
| 34 | LMGT3 | 91 | Manthey EMA
|
2:07.691 | 34 | |
| 35 | LMGT3 | 87 | Akkodis ASP Team
|
2:08.153 | 35 | |
| 36 | LMGT3 | 60 | Iron Lynx
|
2:09.622 | 36 | |
| Source:[17][18] | ||||||
Race
[edit]Race results
[edit]
The minimum number of laps for classification (70% of overall winning car's distance) was 128 laps. Class winners are in bold and ‡.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Mitchell, Rory (9 June 2023). "WEC to visit Imola and Qatar for the first time in 2024". RacingNews365. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
- ^ Kilbey, Stephen (9 June 2023). "Eight-Round 2024 FIA WEC Calendar Released". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Kilbey, Stephen (22 August 2024). "Isotta Withdraws From WEC With Immediate Effect (Updated)". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
- ^ a b "2024 Lone Star Le Mans (COTA) - FIA World Endurance Championship". fiawec.com. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ a b Klein, Jamie (30 August 2024). "Campbell Tops First COTA Practice for Porsche". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Fernandez, Mat; O'Connell, RJ (30 August 2024). "#5 Penske Porsche Opens Up Weekend With Top FP1 Time". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "FIA WEC - Lone Star Le Mans Free Practice 1 - Final Classification" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "FIA WEC - Lone Star Le Mans Free Practice 1 - Classification by Driver and Category Fastest Lap" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ a b Euwema, Davey (30 August 2024). "Giovinazzi Leads Ferrari 1-2 in COTA FP2". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Fernandez, Mat; O'Connell, RJ (31 August 2024). "AF Corse Ferraris 1-2 In Free Practice 2". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "FIA WEC - Lone Star Le Mans Free Practice 2 - Final Classification" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "FIA WEC - Lone Star Le Mans Free Practice 2 - Classification by Driver and Category Fastest Lap" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Fernandez, Mat; O'Connell, RJ (31 August 2024). "Cadillac & Corvette To The Top In FP3". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Klein, Jamie (31 August 2024). "Lynn Puts Cadillac On Top in Final COTA Practice". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "FIA WEC - Lone Star Le Mans Free Practice 3 - Final Classification" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 31 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "FIA WEC - Lone Star Le Mans Free Practice 3 - Classification by Driver and Category Fastest Lap" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 31 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Lone Star Le Mans Qualifying – Final Classification" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 31 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Lone Star Le Mans Race – Final Starting Grid" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 1 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "FIA WEC – Lone Star Le Mans Race – Final Classification" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 1 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.