COTA Thursday Notebook

***The entry list for this weekend’s Lone Star Le Mans round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Circuit of The Americas, which features the regular 36 full-season entries, sees several driver lineup changes from last month’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo.

***These include Porsche Penske Motorsport reverting to three-driver lineups, as Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell return to the team, while Sebastien Buemi (Toyota), Robin Frijns (BMW), Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne (both Peugeot) all take up their regular seats after skipping the Brazilian round due to a Formula E clash.

***As announced on Monday by Toyota, Jose Maria Lopez is deputizing for the injured Mike Conway aboard the marque’s No. 7 car, with Jack Hawksworth taking the Argentinian’s place in the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3.

***Ben Barnicoat returning to Akkodis ASP for only his second outing of the season is another notable change in LMGT3, while Derek DeBoer is another driver who was absent from Brazil returning to the cockpit with Racing Spirit of Leman.

***Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury said that running with two drivers only in the No. 7 car would have been “probably feasible but a big risk” considering the heat and humidity at COTA. He added: “We managed to get Jose in the simulator for some preparation, and also thanks to our friends at TGR North America, we were able to to get Jack [Hawksworth] in the [No. 87] car.”

***Floury explained that Esteban Masson, who replaced Barnicoat earlier in the year at Imola, was unavailable due to a clashing Super Formula Lights commitment at Fuji, while Hawksworth’s knowledge of COTA made him the preferred choice over the other replacement driver to have featured in Akkodis ASP’s lineups this year, Yuichi Nakayama.

***Porsche’s LMDh factory director Urs Kuratle said the expected high temperatures at COTA were the main factor behind bringing back Jaminet and Campbell this weekend.

***Kuratle said: “In early September, temperatures in Austin often soar well above 30 degrees Celsius. The asphalt heats up dramatically and puts all teams under major pressure in terms of tire management. That’s why we’ve opted again to rotate three drivers per car. I’m convinced we’re well-prepared for these conditions.”

***Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Tom van Rompuy and Jonny Edgar all arrive at COTA having recently completed the 24 Hours of Zolder in Porsche Carrera Cup machinery operated by NGT Racing. Vanthoor finished second in a car that also included SUPER GT racer Bertrand Baguette. Estre, van Rompuy and Edgar, meanwhile, finished fifth overall in the sister machine that they shared with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racer Lars Kern. The contest was won from pole by Michelin 24H Series regulars RedAnt Racing with a lineup that notably featured Dylan Pereira.

***Michelin has brought its Medium and Hard compound slick tires to COTA for the Hypercar class, while in LMGT3, Goodyear has nominated the new Eagle Hard for the second time after it made its debut at Sao Paulo.

***Toyota driver Brendon Hartley says he expects that the Medium will be the favored tire for the race, particularly as temperatures are expected to decline over the course of the weekend, with possible rain forecast for Sunday.

***Hartley told Sportscar365: “The Medium was the best option last year, and it’s not the hardest track on tires, so the Medium should be ok again. I suspect that it will be a Medium-only race for most. Whoever can make the Medium work will use it.”

***The WEC sporting regulations have been changed to clarify that, in cases where a crew has two Silver-rated drivers, only one of them is required to fulfill the minimum drive time (one hour 45 minutes in a six-hour race). This ruling only applies to one car on the grid, the No. 60 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Andrew Gilbert, Lorcan Hanafin and Fran Rueda.

***AF Corse could wrap up the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams this weekend. The No. 83 Ferrari 499P crew has a 64-point lead over the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche 963, and would be guaranteed the title if Proton doesn’t win the sub-class.

***Ferrari Hypercar factory driver Miguel Molina has entered the driver management business, with the establishment of ROGO Motorsport Agency alongside his friend Aleix Alcaraz, an ex-driver who competed in series such as Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 3.5.

***Anthony McIntosh, who made his WEC debut in Sao Paulo and has targeted a full-season LMGT3 effort, has signed with Oliver Gavin Motorsport Management. OGMM also recently signed American ex-Formula 1 driver Logan Sargeant, who will make his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut in this month’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a LMP2 car.

***Ex-F1 star Rubens Barrichello, the father of recent Sao Paulo LMGT3 pole-sitter and podium finisher Eduardo, won the 2025 NASCAR Brasil Series title last month. The 53-year-old Brazilian, who has taken part in selected sports car racing races over the years, was crowned champion in his rookie season in the category.

***For the second consecutive year, Mustang Challenge will serve as a support series for the Lone Star Le Mans event. A total of 16 Ford Mustang Dark Horse Rs are entered for the pair of 45-minute races, which could see Dark Horse class points leader Robert Noaker clinch the title this weekend ahead of next month’s season finale at the Charlotte Roval.

***Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America also held support races at COTA last year, although are not on this weekend’s schedule, which is understood to be due to the Italian manufacturer’s lack of WEC program.

***A total of 46 Mustang race cars are scheduled to compete worldwide this weekend, including the pair of Proton Competition Mustang GT3s in LMGT3, the stampede of Dark Horse Rs in Mustang Challenge, a single Mustang GT3 in GT World Challenge America powered by AWS at Barber Motorsports Park, as well as several more GT3s in ADAC GT Masters and multiple Mustang GT4s in Monochrome GT4 Australia at The Bend Motorsports Park.

***WEC drivers and teams are taking part in a number of pre-event activities to support Central Texas Food Bank, a non-profit hunger-relief organization in central Texas. On Thursday night, competitors will assist local volunteers on-site in distributing food parcels to 300 families – equating to approximately 1,200 people in total. Each parcel will additionally contain tickets to attend the race weekend.

***Akkodis ASP Team, Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, Ferrari AF Corse, Heart of Racing Team, Porsche Penske Motorsport, Proton Competition, Peugeot TotalEnergies, Team WRT and United Autosports have all committed to support the initiative, along with drivers including Kevin Estre and Sebastien Bourdais.

***In conjunction with this, a number of teams will engage in a collective fundraising campaign for Central Texas Food Bank entitled ‘Race with Us Against Hunger’, with an overall target of collecting $20,000 USD and a public leaderboard over the course of the race weekend to add a competitive edge. For every $1 USD donated, CTFB can provide three meals.

***First practice at COTA is slated for Friday morning at 11:30 a.m. CST (12:30 p.m. EST), with a second session following at 4 p.m. CDT (5 p.m. EST).

John Dagys & Davey Euwema contributed to this report