WEC Austin 2026: Huge bad luck for Toyota brings Ferrari the victory

– Once again, there is drama surrounding Toyota in the World Endurance Championship (WEC): At the Lone Star Le Mans, the Toyota #7 (Conway/Kobayashi/de Vries; DNF) was on its way to a certain victory when Nyck de Vries’ hydraulic system failed twelve minutes before the end. Instead of an important leap towards the world championship title, there were tears from the Dutchman, who had previously driven outstandingly. (Result)

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This is the second time that the Toyota #7 has lost a seemingly certain victory in Austin. In 2024, the #7, then still in the predecessor model GR010 Hybrid, was also on course for victory when Kamui Kobayashi received a controversial penalty for insufficient braking under double yellow flags.

“A sad end to a great day. We gave everything and did everything right. I had a great car and was able to deliver when it counted. But unfortunately, this is a technical sport and unfortunately the technology let us down today,” said de Vries in an initial statement after he had calmed down somewhat.

The beneficiaries of the drama were Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, who took the win in the Ferrari 499P #50, despite being on a wrong strategy at times. The race took place at a maximum of 34 degrees Celsius, with almost cool temperatures after the previous week. However, the humidity was relatively high as it had rained before the race.

The Alpine #35 (da Costa/Milesi/Habsburg; 3rd) would have taken second place, but lost the win on track to the Ferrari due to a mistake while lapping after the last restart. In the end, this did not matter because he received a 5-second penalty for an unsafe release. The second place was thus inherited by the Cadillac #38 (Bamber/Bourdais/Aitken).

Two Safety-Car phases bring #50 back into play

The race was split into two halves. In the first half, whose first laps were completed on a partly wet track, four hypercars tried an alternative strategy with an earlier pit stop: the Ferrari #50, the Toyota #8 (Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa; 6th), the Cadillac #12 (Stevens/Nato/R. Taylor; 9th), and the AF-Corse Ferrari #83 (Ye/Kubica/Hanson; 13th).

This strategy did not pay off when shortly before halfway a Safety-Car phase with a preceding VSC was called because things had to be fixed at various points on the track. The four vehicles fell back. Only the Ferrari was able to recover from this.

The apparent decision for the race win came after the restart when Nyck de Vries moved from third place to the lead within half an hour. He overtook the Alpine #35 and the Cadillac #38. The Toyota TR010 Hybrid had fresher tires in this phase but was also overall the strongest package in race trim – especially with de Vries at the wheel.

At the start of the last hour, there was another Safety-Car phase when the ASP-Lexus #78 (van Rompuy/David/Masson; DNF) lost its hood for the second time after a makeshift repair. Thus, the race was decided in a 46-minute sprint.

De Vries had the situation firmly under control in the final sprint and managed his lead until the drama struck. Behind him, Milesi took second position because Nielsen, who had driven back up to third place with good pace and the right strategy until the second Safety-Car phase, had a somewhat weak restart.

On the first lapping of LMGT3 cars after the restart, Milesi went off track, which Nielsen was able to exploit. Due to the penalty against Alpine, the maneuver would not have been necessary, but it gave the Ferrari a clear path to victory.

No points for top 3 in the championship

Aston Martin still has to wait for its first WEC podium. Although the Valkyrie secured two fastest times in practice, the last bit was again missing in the race. The Aston Martin #007 (Tincknell/Gamble; 4th) showed a flawless race. The duo thus equaled their best result after the 6 Hours of Spa.

The Alpine #36 (Makowiecki/Gounon/Martins) finished fifth. Victor Martins had huge bad luck at the last pit stop, which he made shortly before the VSC. Under VSC, he then had to come in again for a short refuel. If the VSC had been called earlier, Alpine would probably have brought both cars to the podium.

The same applies to the Ferrari #51 (Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi; 11th), for whom the race ended in a disaster with zero points. After the #50 had gone “off sequence” in the first part of the race, it was the #51 that tried this trick after the first Safety-Car – and completely failed due to the second VSC.

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Thus, the BMW #20 (Frijns/Rast/S. van der Linde; 12th) came out with a black eye from a weekend in which nothing was possible for BMW. Whether WRT simply could not set up the M Hybrid V8 for the Circuit of the Americas or if it was due to the Balance of Performance (BoP) is unclear, as the WEC keeps the 2026 BoP secret.

In any case, the #20 missed the points and was also less competitive than the sister car #15 (Magnussen/Marciello/D. Vanthoor; 8th). The Toyota #7 missed a penalty kick here for a decent championship lead.

The best result of the still young program was celebrated by the Genesis #17 (Lotterer/Derani/Jaubert; 7th), but more would have been possible here as well. Andre Lotterer lost control in the opening phase during an attack on Molina for third place and spun. He also received a small time penalty during the subsequent pit stop.

From behind, the GMR-001 could no longer properly move forward and ultimately benefited from a penalty against the Cadillac #12. This car would have actually finished seventh but received five seconds for leaving the track with an advantage.

At least one point was fought for by the Peugeot #94 (Duval/Jakobsen/Pourchaire; 10th) in another tough weekend for Peugeot Sport. The hope here remains on the Evo model, which was recently tested.

Aston Martin secures GT victory

The Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 Evo were the dominant faction throughout the weekend. Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, and Mattia Drudi took the LMGT3 win after having to give way to the sister car #23 (Newell/Barrichello/Adam; 3rd LMGT3) in qualifying.

“We have always been close in recent years and have always just missed it. Today, finally, everything worked. We were fast, had a clean strategy, and made no mistakes,” said Mattia Drudi. For The Heart of Racing (THOR), it was a home victory, although the team base is located at the other end of the United States of America.

Ayhancan Güven had to act cautiously at the end in the Manthey Porsche #91 (Cottingham/Boguslawski/Güven; 2nd LMGT3) because the Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 had less energy available in the last stint than the immediate opponents. The DTM champion skillfully brought home second place and kept Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello in the Aston Martin #23 at bay.

Among the GT cars, even the best four cars from the table remained without points. Both Ferraris, both Fords, both Mercedes-AMGs, and the Garage-59 McLaren #58 (West/Gehrsitz/Goethe; 8th LMGT3) made it into the points.

Only eight cars finished on the lead lap. Marvin Kirchhöfer had great bad luck in the Garage-59 McLaren #10 (Au/Fleming/Kirchhöfer; 17th LMGT3), who collided with the Proton Ford #88 (Gattuso/Levorato/Sargeant; 9th LMGT3) of Logan Sargeant after the restart and suffered a tire damage. The Ford was not even on the lead lap at that time due to a repair in the early phase.

Porsche also had to write off the better-placed car in the championship: Ricardo Pera hit a baguette curb after just under two hours and destroyed the steering rod of the Manthey Porsche #92 (Shahin/Pera/Lietz; 15th LMGT3). The TF-Sport Corvette #34 (Dempsey/Yoluc/Eastwood; 14th LMGT3) lost several laps due to suspension repairs.

The BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo experienced a race to forget, losing all chances in the first hour. A drama unfolded around Anthony McIntosh. His WRT BMW #69 (McIntosh/Thompson/Harper; 11th LMGT3) suffered a tire damage in a duel. Smoke entered the cockpit, causing breathing problems for the Imola winner.

He dragged the car to the pits but first struggled to get out of the cockpit. He got back in because no teammate was ready. The whole episode cost two laps. Also in the first hour, the WRT BMW #32 (Leung/Gelael/Farfus; 16th LMGT3) suffered power loss. The FIA speed sensor had failed.

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The next WEC race is the 6 Hours of Fuji on September 27.