KEVIN ESTRE WINS AN ACTON-PACKED LONE STAR LE MANS IN WEC; IN THE LMGT3 IT IS THE #95 THAT TAKES THEIR FIRST GLORY.
WEC is back after its last race in Interlagos, and what a way to do it: the 6 hours of COTA has been characterized by beautiful overtakes, a lot of rain and a splendid battle for the lead in the LMGT3 class.
The first hours of the race
Not much to say about the first hours of this Lone Star Le Mans, as we had cars on track but behind the safety car, which was deployed because of the rain, and after some changes in the lead in both classes due to the pit stops, the race got red flagged because of a miscommunication between the drivers and the race direction. After roughly 1 hour of red flag (plus another hour under the safety car), the race director announced the restart of the race, and the order of the grid has been reinstaled. In the meantime, the #20 BMW M Team WRT had to retire because of a water infiltration on the hybrid sistem.
Hours 3 and 4: We finally get to race
As we approached the fourth hour of the race, we finally had the green flag. The #83 managed to keep the lead over the #51, but just after a couple of minutes we had our first neutralization due to the #007 and the #36 spinning into the wall. The Alpine car was pretty damaged, but the mechanics managed to repair the car and let Makowiecki continue his race, of course compromised because of the time lost in the pits.
After that, we had a change in the lead, as Calado overtook Hanson for P1, meaning that the #51 was now the leader in the Hypercar class. Surely the ones that struggled the most were the two Toyotas, who found themselves spinning multiple times.
A third safety car was deployed after Nico Varrone spun in the last sector, and getting stuck into the gravel; the marshals helped him to continue the race, but it was a big disappointment for the Argentinian, as he was in P5 and rejoined the race in last position among the Hypercars and also two laps down. After this safety car, both Porsche Penske found an amazing pace, managing to climb up to the podium positions, and the lead of the #51 was beginning to be at concerns due to this.
Last two hours: battles, lead changes and high drama
Another safety car came on track with around 2 hours to go, because of the #7 getting stuck in the gravel, and just like Varrone, he was allowed to go on by the marshalls. In the restart a crucial moment happened: In the last corner Estre tried to have a better entry than Pier Guidi to attack the Italian approaching Turn 1, but doing that, the #6 touched the #51, resulting in a puncture for the Ferrari, who rejoined in P13, while the Porsche took the lead; in the end this collision was judged as a racing incident, so no action was taken against the Penske driver.
In the LMGT3 class, we had a beautiful battle between the leaders, with the #77 Proton and the #95 and the #59 United Autosport battling for P1, resulting in the Ford Mustang to keep the lead on both Mclarens.
A last safety car came on to neutralize the race, because the race due to the #87 Akkodis hitting the wall in the penultimate corner, retiring from the race.
Huge heartbreak also for the #007 Valkyrie, who had to retire from the race with only 30 minutes to go because of a gearbox issue, so a weekend in which they seemed to be one of the contenders for the top 5, they faced a retirement.
As we approached the end, we had another splendid battle for the lead in LMGT3, this time involving the #54 Vista AF Corse as well, who managed to take the lead, but in the end the win was taken away from them due to a penalty for a collision with the #77 Proton. So in the GT3 class the victory went to the #95 United Autosport.
Let’s go back to the Hypercars, where the protagonist has surely been Kevin Estre; once again the French driver pulled a perfect drive, that allowed him to dominate the last part of the race, and win the 6 Hours of COTA, what a race from him.
In P2 we had the #50 AF Corse, and in third position an incredible Peugeot TotalEnergies #94, an amazing performance from the French team allowed them in P3 and P4, meaning the best result from the team this year.
On the other hand, big disappointment for the 24h of Le Mans winner, the #83 that struggled during all the race, and with roughly 10 minutes left, Kubica was spun around by the #46 BMW, resulting in P8.
WEC once again gave us brilliant action, and we are on to have more; next up it is the 6H of Fuji, on September 28th.
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