Gearing up for Ford home race at COTA

After the series’ summer break, the FIA World Endurance Championship is back in action for the sixth round of the season. Proton Competition heads to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for the Lone Star Le Mans event, taking place from 5 to 7 September.

The FIA WEC’s stop in the United States for a six-hour race gives Proton Competition’s pair of Ford Mustang LMGT3 the opportunity to perform in front of US spectators. Sharing driving duties in the #77 car are Bernardo Sousa and Ben Tuck, alongside Ben Barker, who is eager for the challenge: “It’s a really good feeling to be back in Austin. It’s the home race for Ford and our Mustang and I think there’s going to be a big fan base there. I’m really looking forward to putting on a good show for the home crowd.”

The second Mustang (#88) will be driven by Stefano Gattuso, Giammarco Levorato, and Dennis Olsen, with the two Italian drivers making their debuts at the 5.5-kilometre track. For Olsen, a solid result in the US is of particular importance: “We have a lot of potential, but unfortunately the luck has not been on our side. With our crew we should be able to compete for at least the podium if everything goes right.”

Alongside home-race excitement, Proton Competition will also be competing with the Porsche 963 for overall honours in the top class, Hypercar. The #99 crew of Neel Jani, Nicolas Pino and Nicolás Varrone travel to the United States on an upward trajectory on the back of their first top-10 finish of 2025 last time out in São Paulo.

Schedule

Friday 5 September
11:30 – 13:00 – Practice 1
(18:30 – 20:00 CEST)
16:00 – 17:30 – Practice 2
(23:00 – 00:30 CEST)

Saturday 6 September
11:00 – 12:00 – Practice 3
(18:00 – 19:00 CEST)
15:00 – 16:10 – Qualifying
(22:00 – 23:10 CEST)

Sunday 7 September
13:00 – 19:00 – Race
(20:00 – 02:00 CEST)

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Copyright: Proton Competition (Paola Depalmas)