Audi Dominates First Hour at COTA

Photo: John Dagys

Audi Sport Team Joest leads the Six Hours of Circuit of The Americas after the first hour, with Andre Lotterer out front in his No. 7 Audi R18.

Marcel Fassler was the early leader and commanded the field until he pitted to Lotterer just before the hour-mark. Oliver Jarvis is second in the No. 8 car.

Anthony Davidson managed to exit the pit lane ahead of Brendon Hartley, but the Kiwi managed to pass the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver and re-take third in his No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid.

Stephane Richelmi is out front in LMP2 for Signatech Alpine, while Ricardo Gonzalez is second. Roberto Mehri had led the class from the start but his Manor car is fourth.

Despite starting from the back of the field, Alex Brundle managed to take the G-Drive Racing Oreca 05 Nissan as high as 13th overall before pitting.

Marco Sorensen has led all the way in GTE-Pro from pole in his No. 95 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, with Davide Rigon’s AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE currently in second.

The GTE-Pro frontrunners are yet to make their first pit stop.

Meanwhile, Pedro Lamy is the leader in GTE-Am, putting Aston Martin Racing out front in both classes. Kevin Estre was the class leader for a while after the start.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.