Ferrari Wins the 2026 Lone Star Le Mans in Austin

A hydraulic system failure forced Nyck de Vries to park the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid with less than ten minutes remaining in the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas, and that retirement handed Ferrari its first victory of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

The Japanese car, shared by De Vries with Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway, had built a lead of nearly six seconds over the No. 50 Ferrari 499P of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, and appeared to be on course for Toyota's first win at Austin since the WEC arrived at the track. In the decisive stint, De Vries put together the fastest laps of the race and extended the gap, with Toyota's maiden victory at Austin practically in hand.

Nielsen, who was driving the No. 50 car in that final stint, took the lead the moment the Toyota lost power and from there managed the gap to the finish. Molina expressed satisfaction with the result and acknowledged the team's work behind a victory that broke Ferrari's winless streak dating back to last season's opener at Qatar.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

Antonio Giovinazzi had started from pole in the No. 51 Ferrari 499P thanks to a tie with the No. 38 Cadillac V-Series.R of Jack Aitken in Hyperpole, resolved in Giovinazzi's favor because his team set the time first. It was only the second time in 106 events in the category that two cars had finished a qualifying session with identical times down to the last thousandth, something that had previously only happened at Shanghai in 2014.

Neither of the two manufacturers' championship leaders, Toyota and BMW, managed to place a car among the top four in that session—a sign that already pointed to a difficult weekend for both in single-lap pace, though the final result would tell a different story.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

Before this race, Toyota led the manufacturers' championship with 132 points, just five ahead of BMW on 127, with Ferrari third on 88. The No. 50 car's victory left Toyota on 140 points, BMW on 131, and Ferrari on 114, so the gap between the top two shrank to nine points and Ferrari inserted itself squarely into the title fight with four rounds remaining.

In the drivers' standings, Kobayashi, Conway, and De Vries remained tied for first with Robin Frijns and René Rast, as neither car scored points at Austin. The No. 20 BMW, with Frijns, Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde, finished 12th and could not take advantage of the opportunity to sit alone atop the drivers' championship.

The No. 38 Cadillac of Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais, and Jack Aitken finished second, a result that is becoming a habit for that team, which has had the pace to fight for the lead but has yet to close out a weekend with a victory.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

The No. 35 Alpine A424 of António Félix da Costa, Charles Milesi, and Ferdinand Habsburg finished third, giving Alpine its first podium finish of the season, in what is Alpine's final campaign in the WEC. A five-second penalty for a pit-stop infringement came close to dropping them from that position.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

The No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie of Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble finished fourth, its best result since the car entered Hypercar competition, after having been fastest in both Saturday practice sessions.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

In LMGT3, the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage, driven by Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, and Mattia Drudi, took the victory in a race where Ford, Porsche, and Mercedes also led at various points. Drudi controlled the final two hours and crossed the line first by a narrow margin over the No. 91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche; the second Aston Martin, the No. 23, finished third.

Photo By Carlos Castillo

The championship continues on September 25 with the 6 Hours of Fuji in Japan, the sixth of eight rounds scheduled for 2026.