Kubica Takes Lone Star Le Mans Pole

Ford Mustangs Claim LMGT3 Front Row at Circuit of The Americas for Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans – round six of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign

Austin, TX- (7 September 2025) Following scorching temperatures throughout Friday’s free practice running, competitors were faced with a very different scenario during the two-part qualifying session, as light rain rendered the track slippery.

That resulted in contrasting tactics in Q1, as the two Cadillacs – fresh off the back of their breakthrough one-two finish in Brazil last time out – and #7 Toyota rolled the dice by pitting to switch from slick tires to wets midway through. Initially, they looked to have made the right call as Alex Lynn began lighting up the timing screens, but when the rain subsequently eased again, they tumbled down the order and ultimately ended up propping up the timesheets.

That swung the advantage back in favor of Ferrari, and in the ten-minute Hyperpole showdown, it was Kubica – winner of June’s 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside team-mates Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson – who managed the situation best.

Antonio Giovinazzi looked to be the only driver likely to challenge, but a mistake by the Italian towards the end of the session effectively consigned the championship-leading Ferrari 499P to second on the grid. That secured Kubica his first Hypercar pole position in FIA WEC by a whisker under a tenth-of-a-second – and the first for a privately-entered car in the current era.

“That was one of the most challenging sessions of my life,” acknowledged the former grand prix-winner. “The grip was changing corner-by-corner, which made it difficult to find the limit and the rain was moving around, but I felt quite confident straightaway.

“I managed to build up temperature in the tires and tried to read the track as best as I could without taking too much risk, because if you went off-line or came with too much speed, there was no room for recovery.  I would say it was nicer to watch from outside than being in the car, but we managed to grab P1, which is a great achievement. It’s an extra championship point, which is the most valuable outcome from today, but the race will be a different story.”

In LMGT3, it was another single-brand lockout as  Proton Competition’s brace of Ford Mustangs popularly locked out the front row of the grid in the LMGT3 category on the Blue Oval’s home turf in Texas, at the end of a dramatic qualifying session held in challenging conditions at Circuit of The Americas today.

The ten-minute Hyperpole shootout ultimately boiled down to an internecine duel between the two American cars, piloted by Ben Tuck (#77) and Giammarco Levorato (#88), with the Briton and Italian trading quickest times as the clock ticked down.

“The conditions were not full rain, but it was still slippery for sure and there was no reference,” said Levorato. “This is also the first time for me at COTA, and I didn’t know the kerbs and everything in the wet. The car was unbelievable, though, and a one-two for Ford is a great result. Both poles (in FIA WEC and IMSA) felt amazing, but this one is more so as it’s in the world championship at Ford’s home track.”

Check out the full LMGT3 grid  and the the full Hypercar grid  for the race.

Video recap: https://youtu.be/B7noKW2DnzU

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