296 LMGT3s debut at COTA

The sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship will take place at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, United States, where the Ferrari 296 LMGT3s will make their debut. The Six Hours, known as the Lone Star Le Mans, has featured in the world championship six times between 2013 and 2017 and in 2019-2020. The Vista AF Corse team will field its two cars in this race: car number 54 will see official Ferrari driver Davide Rigon, Thomas Flohr, and Francesco Castellacci take turns at the steering wheel, while in car number 55, the other official driver, Alessio Rovera, will share the car with François Heriau and Simon Mann. The race is scheduled for Sunday 1 September at 1 p.m. (local time).

The race. As mentioned, the COTA track returns to host a round of the FIA World Endurance Championship after four years. It will be the first time that the LMGT3 class cars tackle the challenging Texan track, which hosted six races of the world championship.

The situation. After taking sixth place at the Six Hours of São Paulo, earning 8 points, Rovera-Heriau-Mann in the number 55 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 hold fifth place in the drivers' standings with 49 points, 51 points behind the leaders. The number 54 of Rigon-Flohr-Castellacci is in 15th place in the standings with a total of 23 points, 77 points adrift of the top. The best result of the season for the 296 LMGT3 was fourth place at Imola for car number 55, while number 54 achieved fifth place in Qatar.

The history. The Circuit of the Americas is 5.513 kilometres long and features 20 turns, with 11 left-hand and nine right-hand bends. It is characterised by the significant change in elevation on the starting straight and the mix of demanding braking points and fast, sweeping corners. Inaugurated in 2012, COTA began hosting the Formula 1 Grand Prix in the same year (with one win for Scuderia Ferrari) and MotoGP in 2013.

Ferrari's history at COTA in endurance racing is synonymous with GT cars in the FIA WEC, with two wins and 13 podiums in six editions. Of note is the triumph in LMGTE Pro in 2017, with James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi aboard AF Corse's Ferrari 488 GTE in a race that saw the sister car of Davide Rigon and Sam Bird finish third.

The programme. Friday 30 August will feature two 90-minute free practice sessions, starting at 12.40 p.m. and 5.10 p.m. respectively. Saturday 31 August will see the third 60-minute session, beginning at 11 a.m., followed by the qualifying sessions at 3 p.m. and the Hyperpole reserved for the 10 fastest cars at 3.20 p.m. On Sunday 1 September, the race kicks off at 1 p.m. (local time).