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Ferrari claimed its first World Endurance Championship victory of 2026 at Lone Star Le Mans after Toyota’s race-leading No. 8 GR010 Hybrid suffered a late technical problem at the Circuit of the Americas.
Nyck de Vries, Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway had looked set to deliver Toyota’s first Austin victory in nine attempts after recovering from ninth on the grid. Instead, the failure handed victory to Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco and Nicklas Nielsen in the No. 50 Ferrari 499P, which had been in contention throughout a strategically complex six-hour race. The result delivered Ferrari’s first Hypercar win since last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
The race began behind the safety car, with two additional formation laps ordered as the circuit dried. Antonio Giovinazzi retained the lead from pole in Ferrari’s No. 51, while Jack Aitken held second for Cadillac. Molina was the early mover, advancing from fifth to third before Ferrari’s early fuel stop placed the No. 50 at the front.
Toyota mirrored that approach, lifting Sébastien Buemi from the lower reaches of the top 10 to second. The split between conventional and offset strategies remained central until a safety-car intervention before halfway reset the order and favoured those on the conventional plan.
Earl Bamber led the No. 38 Cadillac after the reset, but de Vries quickly moved past Tom Gamble’s Aston Martin and Antonio Félix da Costa’s Alpine. With 2h15m remaining, he overtook Bamber to take the lead and began to build a gap.
The race appeared to be Toyota’s to lose after a final restart with less than 50 minutes remaining. De Vries controlled it cleanly, only to slow on track with technical gremlins. Molina, who had just passed the No. 35 Alpine, inherited the lead and resisted late pressure from Charles Milesi.
Milesi received a five-second penalty for an unsafe pit release, promoting the No. 38 Cadillac to second. Alpine still secured its first podium of 2026, while Aston Martin’s strong Austin practice form translated into fourth for the No. 007 Valkyrie.
BMW struggled throughout, with its best car ninth. The championship-leading No. 20 BMW and No. 7 Toyota both left Austin without points.
Heart of Racing won the LMGT3 class with Mattia Drudi, Ian James and Zacharie Robichon in the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The contest became a direct fight with the No. 91 Manthey Porsche, but Drudi pulled clear in the final two hours to win by more than five seconds.
The No. 91 Porsche finished second, while the No. 61 Aston Martin completed the podium. The championship-leading No. 33 TF Sport Corvette endured a difficult race after success ballast and an early spin following contact.
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