New Zealand’s Earl Bamber and teammate Alex Lynn took their best result of the World Endurance Championship season at Cadillac Racing’s home event, Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas, over the weekend.
Second place overall for the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Nyck De Vries sees Toyota take the lead in the Manufacturers Championship ahead of the final two events.
Kobayashi had looked set to bring home victory for Toyota when he hit the front ahead of AF Corse’s Robert Shwartzman in the fifth hour. However, a late drive-through penalty cost the team, with Kobayashi not slowing sufficiently for a waved yellow while the #94 Peugeot 9X8 was being recovered.
The Japanese driver hunted down Shwartzman over the closing stages but ultimately fell 1.7 seconds short, resulting in the second-closest finish between rival manufacturers in WEC history.
Shwartzman, Robert Kubica, and Yifei Ye’s first win of 2024 was also the first of a customer Ferrari an internationally recognised sportscar race for over 50 years.
Kubica had hit the front in the opening hour with a pass on Antonio Giovinazzi in the #51 Ferrari 499P. The Italian looked to be a contender until a spin while lapping Stoffel Vandoorne’s Peugeot, and then a technical issue ended his and teammates James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi’s race.
The sister Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercar of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina spent most of the race in third position, which they maintained until the chequered flag. The 15 points ensured that the trio closed in on season-long points leaders Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor, who finished the race in sixth place.
Two penalties, including a 30-second stop-go penalty after Sebastien Buemi was involved in an on-track altercation with Estre’s Porsche, cost the #8 Toyota of Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. A puncture further compounded their issues, and they finished out of the points in 15th.
Behind Bamber and Lynn’s Cadillac V-Series.R was the #35 Alpine of Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi and Paul-Loup Chatin, who also took their best result of the season in fifth.
The No.20 BMW M Team WRT car of Robin Frijns, Rene Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde was sixth, ahead of championship leaders Estre, Lotterer, and Vanthoor.
With only the 6 Hours of Fuji and 8 Hours of Bahrain remaining, the Porsche trio holds a 12-point advantage over Kobayashi and De Vries. They are equal on points with the Le Mans-winning Ferrari team of Fuoco, Nielsen, and Molina.
Reigning champions Hartley, Hirakawa, and Buemi are now 56 points off the leaders. They need to finish second or better and have other results go their way in Japan to remain in title contention ahead of the season-finale in Bahrain.
The 6 Hours of Fuji will take place on September 15 before the season concludes with the 8 Hours of Bahrain on November 2.
Header Image: Javier Jimenez/DPPI (WEC)
