How to watch Lone Star Le Mans 2026: COTA preview

Watch Lone Star Le Mans 2026 live from anywhere in the US with FIAWEC+, the official home of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Follow free practice, qualifying, Hyperpole and the full six-hour race – live and ad-free. Sign up to stream Lone Star Le Mans on FIAWEC+ now!

Race Background

• Round 5 of 8 in the 2026 FIA WEC season, and the championship’s only race in the United States, held at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, from 4-6 September 
• Toyota leads the Hypercar Manufacturers’ standings on 132 points, with BMW only five points behind on 127 after its São Paulo success
• Cadillac sits fourth on 60 points and arrives on home soil off the back of its best result of the campaign to-date with Hypercar pole position and a third-place finish last time out in Brazil
• Cadillac has never won at COTA – Ferrari triumphed in 2024, Porsche in 2025 – and the American manufacturer brings in Ricky Taylor for a one-off Lone Star Le Mans appearance to chase that first home victory
• Every session streams live and on-demand, ad-free and with no geo-blocking, on FIAWEC+

Lone Star Le Mans 2026 – at a glance

• Location: Circuit of The Americas (COTA), Austin, Texas – 5.513km, 20 turns (11 left, 9 right)
• Race duration: 6 hours
• Manufacturers’ standings entering Austin: Toyota (132pts), BMW (127pts), Ferrari (88pts), Cadillac (60pts), Alpine (41pts), Aston Martin (40pts), Peugeot (15pts), Genesis (6pts)

Toyota vs. BMW: Title fight lands in Texas at its tightest point yet

The 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship arrives at COTA amidst the closest Hypercar title fight in years. Toyota led comfortably after a sixth 24 Hours of Le Mans victory in June, but BMW hit back hard in São Paulo last month. Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor piloted the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 to victory in Brazil while both Toyotas struggled, cutting the Japanese giant’s advantage from 36 points to just five. 

What’s more, René Rast and Robin Frijns now sit level on points at the top of the Drivers’ standings with Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries.

Ferrari, the reigning world champions, have steadied the ship in third on 88 points but trail BMW by 39 – a gap that Austin’s sweeping corners and heavy braking zones, so different from Interlagos’ tight infield, could just as easily close as extend. Whatever happens, Lone Star Le Mans marks the start of the championship’s second half, with three rounds left after Texas to settle both title tussles.

Cadillac’s home race: America’s manufacturer chases home turf breakthrough

No manufacturer needs Austin to go well quite like Cadillac. COTA is the only round on the FIA WEC calendar held in the United States, making it the American brand’s home race – and the GM-owned marque arrives with real momentum. In São Paulo, Will Stevens claimed the Hypercar pole position before the #12 and #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA cars brought home third and fourth places the following day. That 28-point haul represented the squad’s best single weekend of the season and lifted Cadillac to fourth in the championship classification, 19 points clear of Alpine.

What Cadillac hasn’t done yet is win at COTA. Ferrari took the 2024 Lone Star Le Mans while Porsche claimed it in 2025, meaning the US marque is still searching for a breakthrough in its own backyard. This year’s assault comes with a twist: with regular driver Alex Lynn continuing to work his way back from neck surgery, Cadillac has drafted in Ricky Taylor – a two-time Daytona 24 Hours-winner fresh off the back of victory in the IMSA race at Road America with Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing – to join Stevens and Norman Nato in the #12 V-Series.R for a one-off Lone Star Le Mans appearance. It’s a home soil call-up in every sense – an American driver, in an American car, at America’s only round of the championship, with a first COTA win the target. Lynn is expected back for the final two outings (Barcelona and Monza).

How to watch Lone Star Le Mans 2026 live

Watch Lone Star Le Mans 2026 live on FIAWEC+, the official streaming home of the FIA World Endurance Championship – from anywhere in the US. Every session of race week, from free practice through qualifying and Hyperpole to the full six-hour race, streams live and on-demand. Six hours. Zero interruptions. FIAWEC+ carries the entire race ad-free, so a late pit call or a fight for the lead is never cut away for a commercial break.

FIAWEC+ also puts you as close to COTA as it gets:

• Real-time data from the circuit – Live Timing Pro tracks every car’s pace, gaps and strategy calls in Hypercar and LMGT3 in real time
• See the race from inside the car – live on-board cameras across the grid put you in the cockpit for every overtake, every re-start and every defensive move
• Watch the history of endurance racing – the FIAWEC+ archive holds full replays of previous editions of Lone Star Le Mans and the wider championship calendar, for catching up on the story before Sunday’s green flag
• Go behind-the-scenes – exclusive documentary and paddock content that goes beyond the broadcast, from garage access to driver features

Whether you’re following the Toyota/BMW title fight, tracking Cadillac’s push for a first COTA win or re-living the closing stages on-demand, FIAWEC+ keeps you with the race from lights-out to the chequered flag. Built for FIA WEC fans – head to plus.fiawec.com/en to get set up before the action gets underway in Austin!

For other viewing options and broadcasters, click here.