Ferrari Secure Front Row Lockout In Texas

Ferrari AF Corse have claimed their second pole position in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Antonio Giovinazzi charged to pole at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in the #51 Ferrari 499P with a fastest time of 1:50.390. In LMGT3, American team Heart of Racing secured a popular pole position in their home race, known as the Lone Star Le Mans, with a time of 2:05.587.

Credit: Ferrari Media Centre

Hypercar

Giovinazzi’s stunning lap time is the first pole position for the #51 Ferrari, and the team’s 4th overall. The privately run #83 Ferrari was 2nd fastest, with Robert Kubica getting his yellow Ferrari on the front row just 0.277 seconds behind his factory run teammates.

The thundering V8 Cadillac Racing qualified in 3rd, sharing the 2nd row with the #35 Alpine Endurance Team car, piloted by Charles Milesi who secured an excellent surprise result just 0.361 seconds off the pace of the leading Ferrari. The #50 Ferrari came home 5th fastest with Antonio Fuoco at the wheel, providing the excellent result for the Scuderia of having all three cars in the top 5. The first of the Porsches lines up 6th, with Matt Campbell in the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport car squeezing the most out of the Porsche 963.

The #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport car on the way to 6th on the grid in an unusually tough qualifying for the team. Credit: Porsche AG

BMW M Team WRT share the 4th row of the grid, with Robin Frijns in the #20 car in 7th just 0.008 seconds behind Campbell, and Dries Vanthoor in 8th, just a whisker behind the sister car in a very promising qualifying for the German squad. Kamui Kobayashi came home 9th in the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing car, with Norman Nato rounding out the top 10 in the #12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche.

The biggest surprise from qualifying is the absence of the championship leading #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport squad from the top 10. Kévin Estre, the man who secured pole position at the 2024 24 Hours Of Le Mans, found himself unable to hook up the car and put together a decent lap. As a result, the team find themselves in 14th, 1.250 seconds off the pace. However, the team found themselves at the very back of the Hypercar field in the 6 Hours of São Paulo following an early puncture and went on to finish 2nd overall, so do not discount the championship leaders until the chequered flag has fallen.

LMGT3

Ian James celebrates after securing pole position for Heart of Racing. Credit: Javier Jimenez / DPPI

In a very competitive LMGT3 field, 8 different manufacturers qualified in the top 10. Ian James was the man to bring home the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage. The team, currently 3rd in the championship, set the fastest time in LMGT3 with Sarah Bovy continuing her excellent run of qualifying form, the Iron Dames qualifying in 2nd. Francois Heriau came home 3rd in the #55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari with championship leaders, Manthey PureRxcing, for company in 4th.

The ever popular TF Sport with their distinctive yellow Corvette qualified in 5th alongside the sister #54 Ferrari with Thomas Flohr at the wheel. The #59 United Autosports McLaren qualified in 7th alongside the D’Station Racing Aston Martin, with the #88 Proton Competition car the fastest of the Ford Mustangs. Championship contenders Team WRT could only manage 10th on the grid with their #31 BMW M4 LMGT3, a full 1.896 seconds off the pace.

Driver Reaction

“We’ve finally secured a first pole position for the 499P number 51” enthused pole-sitter Giovinazzi. “We have been strong and determined all weekend, starting from Free Practice 1, and it was crucial to maintain that in today’s Hyperpole. A big thanks to the entire team and my teammates. We have a challenging six-hour race ahead of us, but we are confident and aim to be in the running for an excellent result.”

The 2024 Lone Star Le Mans gets underway at 19:00 GMT. Follow The Checkered Flag for race reports and driver reaction.