6h Austin: A look at the upcoming FIA WEC race

The time has come: this coming weekend (4–6 September) sees the fifth round of the 2026 season in the World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC). The venue is the circuit in Austin, best known for its Formula 1 races. However, the FIA WEC has already raced there eight times: initially in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2020. Then there was a break. But the WEC returned in 2024 – and since then, the Hypercars introduced in 2021 have also been racing at the Circuit of the Americas.

Since 2014, the WEC event in Austin has also had its own name: ‘Lone Star Le Mans’. This is because the state of Texas is also known as the ‘Lone Star State’ – its flag features just a single star. The circuit is 5.513 kilometres long and has 20 corners (eleven left-handers and nine right-handers). The elevation difference is 40.5 metres. In Austin, the race is also run anti-clockwise.

So far, the Hypercars have reached top speeds of up to 316 km/h. The record for the LMGT3 class stands at 263.9 km/h. The fastest Hypercar lap was set in 2024 by Ferrari driver Antonio Giovinazzi in a time of 1:50.390 minutes. The 2024 race was won by the privateer (yellow) Ferrari 499P driven by Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman and Yifei Ye. In 2025, Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell triumphed in the Porsche 963.

As is well known, Porsche will no longer be competing in the Hypercar class in 2026. Alongside Ferrari, Toyota is certainly among the favourites to win. However, although Toyota has been competing in the WEC since 2012, the Japanese team has never won in Austin. Cadillac should not be underestimated on home soil either. But the competition from Aston Martin, Alpine, BMW, Genesis and Peugeot will also be fighting for the top places. Alongside the Hypercars, the LMGT3 cars will be competing once again. Nine manufacturers, each with two cars, will be on the starting grid. The provisional starting grid is available here.

Here is the FIA WEC schedule for Austin (in CEST)