Lone Star Le Mans: Green flag racing underway after safety car start
The 2025 edition of Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas has belatedly gone ‘green’ after almost two hours of both safety car and red flag periods due to heavy rain in Texas.
The race began under the safety car to allow track conditions to be evaluated, with heavy rain consistently falling on the COTA track
The earlier conditions were clearly difficult, as Matthieu Jaminet had a lurid spin but was able to recover, losing just five positions
In the first hour, the #20 BMW M Team WRT Hypercar stopped on-track with a suspected hybrid problem, becoming the first retirement of the race
There were also early issues for the #93 Peugeot, as Jean-Éric Vergne pitted and was placed under investigation for exiting the pits at a red light; the Frenchman incurred a drive-through penalty for the offence
The pole-sitting #83 AF Corse Ferrari started by Phil Hanson led the 36-car field under the safety car for an hour before the red flag was displayed
There followed a 40-minute stoppage before the race was resumed under the safety car, as conditions continued to be evaluated in order to potentially go green
The race got going after 1 hour 50 minutes in full wet conditions, with Hanson leading the #51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P driven by James Calado
But the safety car was re-summoned just five minutes into the action as the #36 Alpine and #007 Aston Martin crashed at the Turn 4-5 complex. Both made it back to the pits for repairs and returned to the circuit, but with barrier damage and debris on-track, the race was suspended again
After two hours, the order reads: 1st #83 Ferrari; 2nd #51 Ferrari; 3rd #6 Porsche; 4th #50 Ferrari; 5th #99 Porsche; 6th #009 Aston Martin; 7th #35 Alpine; 8th #15 BMW; 9th #5 Porsche; 10th #8 Toyota
LMGT3
In LMGT3, Darren Leung in the #95 United Autosports McLaren leads the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Ian James
The rest of the positions at two hours in LMGT3 are: 3rd #81 TF Sport Corvette; 4th #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes; 5th #33 TF Sport Corvette; 6th #85 Iron Dames Porsche; 7th #46 Team WRT BMW; 8th #59 United Autosports McLaren; 9th #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus; 10th #31 The Bend Team WRT BMW
The #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus driven initially by Clemens Schmid visited the pits twice with issues relating to its headlights. Repairs were effected and the car returned to the race, albeit five laps in arrears
The #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes also encountered issues and was forced to pit, losing time but returning to the fray
The majority of cars made a single pit-stop prior to the red flag, with the order for the re-start being backdated by a lap
