Kubica claims WEC pole position with Ferrari 1-2 at COTA

Ferrari driver Robert Kubica claimed hist first World Endurance Championship Hypercar pole position at Austin. The star of the Le Mans 24 Hours in June took the top spot in qualifying aboard the AF Corse-run customer Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar by less than a tenth of a second from Antonio Giovinazzi.

Kubica, who shares the Le Mans-winning AF Ferrari with Philip Hanson and Yifei Ye, got down to a 1m57.655s on slick tyres on a damp Circuit of the Americas to edge out factory Ferrari driver Giovinazzi, who leads the championship with team-mates James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi.

Giovinazzi’s 1m57.751s gave him a margin of seven tenths over third-placed Jean-Eric Vergne in the #93 Peugeot 9X8 2024, which ended up on 1m58.506s. More news on the Peugeot would follow after the session.

Fourth went Kevin Estre in the only factory Penske Porsche 963 LMDh to make it through to the 10-minute Hyperpole session on Saturday for the fastest 10 cars in the first qualifying period.

The Frenchman’s 1m58.619s gave him a margin of two tenths over fifth-placed Nicklas Nielsen in the second factory Ferrari that ended with a 1m58.640s.

#009 Aston Martin Thor Team Aston Martin Valkyrie: Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen

Photo by: FIAWEC – DPPI

Sixth went to the customer Proton Competition Porsche driven by Nicolas Varone, who had topped the times in the first qualifying session.

Charles Milesi was seventh in the #35 Alpine A424 LMDh and Ryo Hirakawa eighth in the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH.

Dries Vanthoor and Alex Riberas rounded out the top 10 in their respective #15 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh and #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH.

Julian Andlauer was the fastest driver to miss out on a place in Hyperpole, the Frenchman ending up 11th in opening qualifying in the #5 Penske Porsche.

#38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Sebastien Bourdais, Jenson Button

Photo by: James Moy Photography via Getty Images

Cadillac, winner last time out in the WEC at Interlagos in July, failed to get either of its V-Series.R LMDhs through into the Hyperpole session.

Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn went out on wet tyres in light rain in the 12-minute opening session and ended up at the bottom of the times along with Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID, which was also on the grooved Michelin.

Late Hypercar drama

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Images via Getty Images

The #93 Peugeot was subsequently excluded from qualifying, the decision coming more than three hours after its conclusion.

Vergne lost his times because the rear rain light was not activated during a session that had been declared as wet by the race director. 

The decision means the Peugeot will line up on the grid in 18th and last position in Hypercar. 

LMGT3 qualifying

#88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3: Stefano Gattuso, Giammarco Levorato, Dennis Olsen

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Images via Getty Images

Ford blocked out the front row in LMGT3 with the pair of Proton Competition-run Mustang GT3s as the American manufacturer took a first pole position in the class introduced at the start of 2024.

Giammarco Levorato in the German team’s #88 entry claimed the pole as the chequered flag dropped when he found over a second to get down to a 2m07.645s.

#46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, Kelvin Van Der Linde

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Images via Getty Images

The Italian had sat atop the leaderboard before team-mate Ben Tuck in the #77 also improved by a second to temporarily demote him to second.

Third in class in the session for the silver-rated driver in each line-up went to Sean Gelael in the best of the United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos, while Valentino Rossi took fourth in his WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

The Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race, the sixth round of the 2025 WEC, starts at 13:00 local time on Sunday.