Antonio Giovinazzi leads for Ferrari after two hours of sensational racing during Lone Star Le Mans at Texas’ Circuit of The Americas
The start of the race saw extra formation laps called for, after a brief shower soaked half of the track
But it quickly dried and at the green light, pole-sitter Giovinazzi led the 35-car grid and immediately established a small gap over the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA Hypercar driven in the first stint by Jack Aitken
Fierce battles developed in the pack as André Lotterer aimed to use the pace of his Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001 to challenge the third-placed #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P of Miguel Molina into Turn 10, but the 2012 world champion misjudged the move, spun and fell to the rear of the 17-car Hypercar field, subsequently picking up a five-second penalty for the manoeuvre
At the first pit-stops, Ferrari, Toyota and Cadillac chose to split strategies between their two entries as the #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid (Sébastien Buemi), #12 Cadillac V-Series.R (Norman Nato) and #50 Ferrari 499P (Molina) all pitted early and went slightly off-strategy by not taking fresh rubber
That tactic ultimately saw Molina take the lead after the sister Ferrari of first hour leader Giovinazzi changed into fresh tyres during its first scheduled stop
But it was Buemi who became the real threat in the #8 Toyota, as the Swiss star asserted great pressure on Molina midway through the second hour before the pair stopped for the second time and dropped back down the field on their alternative strategy
That allowed Giovinazzi to re-assert his lead and 10-second advantage over the #38 Cadillac, now in the hands of Sébastien Bourdais who enjoyed slightly fresher rubber as the second stint wore on
Running third is the #35 Alpine A424, as Charles Milesi drove a patient second stint to ensure that the car he shares with António Félix da Costa and Ferdinand Habsburg – who started the race – remains well placed, but the car must serve a five-second penalty for a pit stop infraction when it next comes in
The second of the Toyotas, started by Mike Conway but now with Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel, runs fourth ahead of the #007 Aston Martin of Tom Gamble and the #36 Alpine driven by Frédéric Makowiecki
It was a tough start to the race for the championship-leading #20 BMW M Team crew, as René Rast was hit with a five-second penalty for an incident with the Paul di Resta-piloted Team Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8
As the third hour arrived, the order was: #51 Ferrari, #38 Cadillac, #35 Alpine, #7 Toyota, #007 Aston Martin, #36 Alpine, #20 BMW, #19 Genesis, #15 BMW and #009 Aston Martin
LMGT3
A typically close LMGT3 category fight is playing out, with multiple leaders over the opening two hours
The pole-sitting #23 Aston Martin Vantage driven by Gray Newell lost the lead early on to Eric Powell in the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang
Ford delighted the local fans as the #88 Mustang of Stefano Gattuso briefly made it a one-two for the Blue Oval, but that ended when the Italian was forced to pit early due to contact
That fleetingly reinstated the Heart of Racing Team Aston Martins in the lead, before a flying James Cottingham came through to snatch the top spot in the #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche
The British driver enjoyed two excellent stints to consolidate the car’s lead, but came under increasing pressure from both Rui Andrade in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG and the Powell-piloted Ford
Cottingham earned a well-deserved break just before the third hour arrived, as Timur Boguslavskiy took over, elevating Powell back into the lead
Andrade, endeavouring to catch Cottingham, clashed with the lapped Antares Au in the #10 Garage 59 entry, spinning the McLaren down to the rear of the 18-car LMGT3 field and obliging Au to pit to replace a broken wheel
Third place in LMGT3 is currently occupied by the #21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari of François Hériau
There were plenty of dramas in the first two hours of racing, with Anthony McIntosh suffering an early puncture and finding himself forced to pit after his cockpit filled with tyre smoke; the American subsequently rejoined the fray but fell down the order
The sister Team WRT BMW started by Darren Leung ran in the lead group initially, but was obliged to pit with a technical problem early on; the Belgian outfit fixed the issue but lost 14 laps
There were also dramas for title-defending #92 Manthey-run Porsche, as Riccardo Pera slowed with mechanical gremlins; the 911 GT3 R was pushed back into its pit garage just as the third hour arrived
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