- McLaren makes Circuit of the Americas WEC debut as championship returns after four-year hiatus
- James Cottingham qualifies McLaren GT3 EVO seventh in Hyperpole session
- Double points finish for McLaren GT3 EVO with fourth and seventh places after six hours of racing
McLaren Automotive and Racing Partner United Autosports continued the McLaren GT3 EVO’s run of points finishes in the USA on September 1 at round six of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race.
The challenging 3.4-mile, 20 corner Circuit of the Americas (COTA), based just outside of Austin, Texas has been home to the US Grand Prix since 2012, but last hosted a round of the WEC in 2020. With ambient temperatures reaching 35 degrees celsius, the sixth round of the season would be a true endurance test for the cars and drivers.
In qualifying James Cottingham finished ninth during a busy session, allowing him to progress to the Hyperpole session, where he set the seventh fastest time. Teammate Josh Caygill just missed out on Hyperpole, qualifying eleventh.
Both cars got a clean start to the race and Caygill made up several places in the #95 car to finish the opening lap just behind Cottingham’s #59 car in eighth place. The order ebbed and flowed as the race progressed with #59 frequently running in the top three as the various pit stop strategies played out. With very few Full Course Yellow periods required during the race there was plenty of close action and both cars saw lots of wheel-to-wheel racing over the duration.
In the final 45 minutes the #59 car’s race really came alive, with a podium finish within reach during Gregoire Saucy’s stint behind the wheel. With a set of fresh tyres, a superb drive ultimately netted fourth place, just 7.4 seconds away from the podium. Marino Sato cross the line in the #95 car in seventh place, despite having to serve a drive-through penalty on the penultimate lap.
The WEC season now heads to Japan, with round seven taking place on September 15 at the Fuji circuit.
“James Cottingham, Gregoire Saucy, Nicolas Costa and the #59 crew have delivered another solid result today with P4. And while it feels frustrating to be so close to the podium again, everybody should be really proud. We are fighting for LMGT3 podiums, we have the pace for LMGT3 podiums, and we are taking on world-class teams and drivers. We’re at that level – and we have two more races to get the result that is so deserved. For the #95 crew, it wasn’t their weekend with a mid-field start, traffic and a couple of issues which will be ironed out before Fuji. But that doesn’t take away from the phenomenal effort that everyone has put in this weekend. I think we’re all praying for cooler temperatures in the final two races!”
Richard Dean, CEO, United Autosports
“Another strong performance from the United Autosports team and the McLaren GT3 EVOs. A fourth and seventh place finish demonstrates our consistency and earns more championship points, providing us with another positive weekend of racing.
We celebrated our first WEC podium finish in Brazil and we came close here in Austin. The team now move on to the penultimate round of the season in Japan, where we will continue to move forward and push for those podium places.
Mick McDonagh, Director of MSO & Motorsport, McLaren Automotive
