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FIA WEC

No Wildcard Entries Expected for 6H COTA

Thirty one cars entered for next month’s FIA WEC COTA round…

Photo: John Dagys

Photo: John Dagys

A total of 31 cars are set to take part in next month’s Six Hours of Circuit of The Americas, with no additional U.S.-based teams currently planning to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship event in Austin.

ENTRY LIST: Six Hours of COTA

The FIA WEC’s one-and-only trip to the U.S. is not expected to see the participation of either Corvette Racing or Krohn Racing, which took up wildcard entries, along with fellow American squad Tequila Patron ESM last year.

Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan told Sportscar365 that an entry this year was not possible due to the team only having three Corvette C7.R chassis, and its third car used in the 2014 race having gone to Larbre Competition, which will be run in GTE-Am.

It’s understood logistical reasons have prevented Houston-based Krohn from participating again, due to the team’s Ligier JS P2 Judd being overseas for the European Le Mans Series season.

As a result, Tequila Patron ESM, which made its series debut at COTA in 2014, will be the lone U.S. team on the grid this year with its pair of Ligier JS P2 Hondas, which will do battle with six other entries in the LMP2 class.

A total of nine cars are entered in LMP1, with the Nissan GT-R LM NISMOs not making the trip to Texas, as expected, following the Japanese manufacturer’s withdrawal from top-level prototype competition until further notice.

Nicolas Lapierre has been drafted back into KCMG for the event, filling in for Nick Tandy, who will focus on his TUDOR United SportsCar Championship commitments with Porsche North America that weekend.

The third driver for Team SARD-Morand’s Morgan-Judd, meanwhile, has yet to be determined.

Seven cars apiece are entered in GTE-Pro and GTE-Am, with no major changes, other than the expected continuation of Jonny Adam in the No. 97 Aston Martin Vantage V8 alongside Darren Turner and Stefan Muecke.

The Six Hours of COTA, part of the Lone Star Le Mans weekend, is set for Sept. 17-19.

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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