The 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship resumed at Austin on Friday with opening practice for the Lone Star Le Mans, as Antonio Giovinazzi set the fastest overall time in the Hypercar class.
Temperatures were already around 30°C during FP1, with similarly hot conditions expected through the weekend. Drivers suggested on Thursday that the heat could make double-stinting difficult, while reduced usable energy is also expected to shorten stint lengths in Sunday’s six-hour race, potentially adding an extra pit stop.
Ferrari occupied the top two positions, with Giovinazzi putting the No. 51 factory 499P on top of the timesheets with a 1m53.824s lap. He finished 0.205s ahead of Antonio Fuoco in the sister No. 50 Ferrari.
Alpine and Toyota filled the positions immediately behind the Ferraris. Jules Gounon put the No. 36 Alpine A424 third, almost 0.4s off the lead and 0.098s ahead of the No. 8 Toyota.
The No. 35 Alpine was narrowly ahead of Nyck de Vries in the No. 7 Toyota, with the latter triggering a brief Full Course Yellow after an off-track excursion.
Faster of the two Cadillac Jota entries was the No. 38 in seventh, 0.6s off the pace and ahead of the No. 009 Aston Martin and No. 19 Genesis, which was among the few cars to set its quickest time on hard tyres.
#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TR010: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck De Vries
Photo by: Toyota Racing
In the closing stages, the No. 94 Peugeot climbed into the top 10 at the expense of the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari, which finished 0.949s off the pace while running a mixed set of medium and hard tyres.
BMW Hypercar entrants were more than a second off the leading time in 15th and 17th, although practice times remained difficult to compare because of differing fuel loads, tyre choices and set-up programmes.
#009 Aston Martin Thor Team Aston Martin Valkyrie: Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen
Photo by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Images via Getty Images
In LMGT3, Tom Fleming set the fastest time with a 2m06.016s lap in the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren.
Fleming moved ahead of Maxime Martin’s No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes midway through the session, beating it by 0.277s, with the No. 10 McLaren close behind.
The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari and No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin completed the top five, the latter finishing half a second behind the class-leading McLaren. The Ferrari was one of the cars required to serve a five-minute pit stop following repeated track-limits infringements.
The two Proton Ford entries occupied sixth and seventh, followed by the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin and No. 87 Lexus ASP. The No. 79 Iron Lynx Mercedes completed the top 10, with all 10 cars within 1.4s of Fleming’s benchmark.
Manthey Porsche and WRT BMW entries remained outside the top 10.
Free Practice 2 is scheduled for 4pm local time, 11pm CET.
