The spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is crossing the Atlantic for Lone Star Le Mans, a six-hour race run on the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). The COTA hosted a round of the FIA WEC every year from 2013 to 2017 and the last race took place there in February 2020. That year, the Rebellion Racing #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson driven by Bruno Senna, Gustavo Menezes and Norman Nato took the win, ahead of the #8 and #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrids fielded by Toyota Gazoo Racing.

The Circuit of the Americas – key figures

• Construction: 2012
• ​First FIA WEC race: 2013
• Length: 5.513 km/3.426 miles
• Number of turns: 20
• Fastest lap in a FIA WEC race: 1:44.183 by André Lotterer in the #1 Audi
• Most wins: Porsche Team with three victories (2015, 2016 and 2017)
  
  What sets the Circuit of the Americas apart is that its architect, Hermann Tilke, deliberately included a number of tried-and-tested components from other famous circuits. A few examples: the first corner is largely inspired by Spielberg in Austria; turns 3 to 6 are modelled on the Maggots-Becketts-Chapel sequence at Silverstone; turns 7 to 9 are strongly reminiscent of the Senna ‘S’ at Interlagos; turns 13 to 15 are very similar to the arena bends at Hockenheim; and turns 16 to 18 resemble the quadruple-apex left-hand corner at Istanbul Park.

Toyota Gazoo Racing chasing Porsche Penske Motorsport

The fight for the FIA WEC World Endurance Championship titles is likely to heat up at this year’s Lone Star Le Mans. After its victory at the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo, Toyota Gazoo Racing has closed the gap on Porsche Penske Motorsport, leader of the provisional standings. There are now just four points between the two teams! Victory for Ferrari AF Corse at the 24 Hours of Le Mans means that the Italian manufacturer also remains in the title race, 17 points behind the leader. A three-way battle is therefore shaping up for the 2024 Endurance World Championship title.
Meanwhile, Hertz Team JOTA sits comfortably at the top of the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams leaderboard, with a 54-point advantage over Proton Competition.

Manthey PureRxcing leads the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGT3 teams amassing 100 points after two victories this season. Manthey EMA holds second place with 75 points, closely followed by Team WRT (74 points). However, with 91 points left to be awarded this season, the competition is still wide open.

Check out the provisional entry list for Lone Star Le Mans.

Where to watch the race

There are several ways to keep track of the race, even on this side of the Atlantic. The official FIA WEC appwill be showing qualifying and the race from 20:00 (CET) this Sunday 1 September. La Chaîne l’Equipe will also broadcast the race from 20:00 to 22:25 and then from 00:40am until the finish..