WEC COTA: Kubica scores first pole position in Ferrari 1-2 in qualifying

Ferrari driver Robert Kubica claimed hist first World Endurance Championship Hypercar pole position at Austin.

The star of the Le Mans 24 Hours in June took the top spot in qualifying aboard the AF Corse-run customer Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar by less than a tenth of a second from Antonio Giovinazzi.

Kubica, who shares the Le Mans-winning AF Ferrari with Philip Hanson and Yifei Ye, got down to a 1m57.655s on slick tyres on a damp Circuit of the Americas to edge out factory Ferrari driver Giovinazzi, who leads the championship with team-mates James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi.

Giovinazzi’s 1m57.751s gave him a margin of seven tenths over third-placed Jean-Eric Vergne in the #93 Peugeot 9X8 2024, which ended up on 1m58.506s. More news on the Peugeot would follow after the session.

Fourth went Kevin Estre in the only factory Penske Porsche 963 LMDh to make it through to the 10-minute Hyperpole session on Saturday for the fastest 10 cars in the first qualifying period.

The Frenchman's 1m58.619s gave him a margin of two tenths over fifth-placed Nicklas Nielsen in the second factory Ferrari that ended with a 1m58.640s.

#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, Philip Hanson (Photo by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Sixth went to the customer Proton Competition Porsche driven by Nicolas Varone, who had topped the times in the first qualifying session.

Charles Milesi was seventh in the #35 Alpine A424 LMDh and Ryo Hirakawa eighth in the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH.

Dries Vanthoor and Alex Riberas rounded out the top 10 in their respective #15 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh and #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH.

Julian Andlauer was the fastest driver to miss out on a place in Hyperpole, the Frenchman ending up 11th in opening qualifying in the #5 Penske Porsche.

Cadillac, winner last time out in the WEC at Interlagos in July, failed to get either of its V-Series.R LMDhs through into the Hyperpole session.

Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn went out on wet tyres in light rain in the 12-minute opening session and ended up at the bottom of the times along with Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID, which was also on the grooved Michelin.

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne (Photo by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Images via Getty Images)

The #93 Peugeot was subsequently excluded from qualifying, the decision coming more than three hours after its conclusion.

Vergne lost his times because the rear rain light was not activated during a session that had been declared as wet by the race director. 

The decision means the Peugeot will line up on the grid in 18th and last position in Hypercar. 

LMGT3 qualifying

#88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3: Stefano Gattuso, Giammarco Levorato, Dennis Olsen (Photo by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Ford blocked out the front row in LMGT3 with the pair of Proton Competition-run Mustang GT3s as the American manufacturer took a first pole position in the class introduced at the start of 2024.

Giammarco Levorato in the German team’s #88 entry claimed the pole as the chequered flag dropped when he found over a second to get down to a 2m07.645s.

The Italian had sat atop the leaderboard before team-mate Ben Tuck in the #77 also improved by a second to temporarily demote him to second.

Third in class in the session for the silver-rated driver in each line-up went to Sean Gelael in the best of the United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos, while Valentino Rossi took fourth in his WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

The Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race, the sixth round of the 2025 WEC, starts at 13:00 local time on Sunday.

WEC Lone Star Le Mans - Qualifying results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Time	km/h
1	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica Y. Yifei P. Hanson	Ferrari 499P	1'57.655	168.686
2	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	+0.096 1'57.751	168.548
3	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	6	K. Estre L. Vanthoor M. Campbell	Porsche 963	+0.964 1'58.619	167.315
4	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	+0.985 1'58.640	167.285
5	Proton Competition HYPERCAR	99	N. Jani N. Pino N. Varrone	Porsche 963	+1.184 1'58.839	167.005
6	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	P. Chatin F. Habsburg C. Milesi	Alpine A424	+2.813 2'00.468	164.747
7	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	+5.271 2'02.926	161.453
8	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	D. Vanthoor R. Marciello K. Magnussen	BMW M Hybrid V8	+5.588 2'03.243	161.037
9	Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR	009	A. Riberas M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Valkyrie	+6.369 2'04.024	160.023
10	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	J. Andlauer M. Christensen M. Jaminet	Porsche 963	+3.076 2'00.731	164.388
11	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	L. Duval M. Jakobsen S. Vandoorne	Peugeot 9X8	+3.089 2'00.744	164.370
12	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	J. Gounon F. Makowiecki M. Schumacher	Alpine A424	+3.108 2'00.763	164.345
13	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	R. Rast R. Frijns S. Van Der Linde	BMW M Hybrid V8	+3.379 2'01.034	163.977
14	Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR	007	H. Tincknell T. Gamble	Aston Martin Valkyrie	+3.445 2'01.100	163.887
15	Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR	38	E. Bamber S. Bourdais J. Button	Cadillac V-Series.R	+5.727 2'03.382	160.856
16	Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR	12	A. Lynn N. Nato W. Stevens	Cadillac V-Series.R	+6.297 2'03.952	160.116
17	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	J. Lopez K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	+7.627 2'05.282	158.417
18	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	P. di Resta M. Jensen J. Vergne	Peugeot 9X8
19	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	S. Gattuso G. Levorato D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	+9.990 2'07.645	155.484
20	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	B. Sousa B. Tuck B. Barker	Ford Mustang GT3	+10.008 2'07.663	155.462
21	United Autosports LMGT3	95	D. Leung S. Gelael M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	+10.607 2'08.262	154.736
22	TEAM WRT LMGT3	46	A. Al Harthy V. Rossi K. van der Linde	BMW M4 GT3	+11.317 2'08.972	153.884
23	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham S. Baud G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	+11.844 2'09.499	153.258
24	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	78	A. Robin F. Gehrsitz B. Barnicoat	Lexus RC F GT3	+12.072 2'09.727	152.988
25	IRON LYNX LMGT3	60	A. Gilbert L. Nicolas Hanafin F. Rueda	Mercedes AMG GT3	+12.458 2'10.113	152.535
26	TF Sport LMGT3	33	B. Keating J. Edgar D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	+11.810 2'09.465	153.298
27	The Bend Team WRT LMGT3	31	Y. Shahin T. Boguslavskiy A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3	+12.574 2'10.229	152.399
28	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James Z. Robichon M. Drudi	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	+12.985 2'10.640	151.919
29	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	+19.146 2'16.801	145.077
30	IRON LYNX LMGT3	61	M. Berry L. Hodenius M. Martin	Mercedes AMG GT3	+19.653 2'17.308	144.542
31	Manthey 1st Phorm LMGT3	92	R. Hardwick R. Pera R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	+19.890 2'17.545	144.293
32	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	+20.473 2'18.128	143.684
33	Racing Spirit of Leman LMGT3	10	D. DeBoer D. Barrichello V. Hasse-Clot	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	+22.727 2'20.382	141.377
34	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	21	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	+23.581 2'21.236	140.522
35	IRON DAMES LMGT3	85	C. Martin R. Frey M. Gatting	Porsche 911 GT3 R	+24.778 2'22.433	139.341
36	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	R. Umbrarescu C. Schmid J. Hawksworth	Lexus RC F GT3
View full results

In this article

Gary Watkins WEC Robert Kubica

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