Keating to Race Proton Ford Mustang GT3 at COTA

Ben Keating will make his return to the FIA World Endurance Championship, joining Proton Competition’s LMGT3 lineup for the upcoming Lone Star Le Mans.

Confirmed as part of the 37-car entry list issued by the series on Wednesday, Keating will drive the No. 88 Ford Mustang GT3 alongside Mikkel Pedersen and Dennis Olsen.

It marks a return to GT racing for Keating, who took the GTE-Am title with Corvette Racing during the ruleset’s final season last year before moving to focus on racing LMP2 machinery in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The Texan will be racing in his home state as WEC visits Circuit of The Americas for the first time since 2020, while Keating also returns to the cockpit of a Ford for the first time since his GTE-Am entry at the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Proton, meanwhile, heads into the event with the third different lineup on the No. 88 car in as many races. Team principal Christian Ried replaced Giorgio Roda at the most recent round at Sao Paulo.

In the Hypercar class, meanwhile, the German squad returns to full strength with its No. 99 Porsche 963 as Harry Tincknell rejoins Julien Andlauer and Neel Jani.

Tincknell went absent in Brazil due to a clash with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which resulted in Andlauer and Jani racing as a duo.

The entry features no other changes compared to the previous round in Brazil, which was won by Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Coming into the Texas event, the No. 6 Porsche 963 crew of Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer defends a 19-point lead over the No. 50 Ferrari 499P.