All Eyes on World Endurance Balance in Texas
All eyes will quite literally be on the World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Texas at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, September 7.
All eyes will quite literally be on the World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Texas at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday 7 September. Not only does Ferrari arrive in a commanding championship lead, with Cadillac coming home off its maiden WEC win, but the championship Balance of Performance fiasco will be under full scrutiny in the ‘States.
Cadillac dominated in Brazil lass time out. Will Stevens, Alex Lynn and Norman Nato thundered to the brand’s maiden WEC win from teammates Earl Bamber, Jenson Button and Sébastien Bourdais in a compelling V-Series.R LMDh 1-2. The factory Penske Porsche 963s chased home in third and fourth, fresh off its Le Mans runner-up finish.
Cadillac won. Ferrari, Toyota were nowhere
Brazil was however controversial. Unbeaten in 2025 and fresh off a third Le Mans 24 Hour victory in a row, Ferrari was quite literally nowhere to be seen. Phil Hanson, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye’s were a distant eighth in yellow privateer 499P. Both championship-leading red factory cars struggled home outside the points, but still ahead of the once mighty Gazoo Toyotas.
The significant swings in relative WEC BoP have led to widespread criticism. Ferrari’s dramatic and sudden loss of pace, as well as Toyota Gazoo Racing’s glaring lack of speed are both said to be down to radical Balance of Performance swings and roundabouts. So, this week’s new BoP schedule will be met with come circumspection while the system comes under severe scrutiny.
It would be a great shame if something as arbitrary as a lack of stability were to scupper the series. But it also makes it anyone’s race, if the extreme change does continue. Second-year WEC squads BMW and Alpine, and Peugeot, which has been at it for several seasons now, are all chasing their first WEC victories. Perhaps more plausible in these turbulent BoP times? And can rookies Aston Martin score a shock result?
Lexus chasing another LMGT3 win
Behind all of them, Lexus will be chasing a second LMGT3 victory following its maiden success last time out. Porsche however leads the GT way to Austin with its Manthey entry, while the Iron Dames will be keen to avenge their missed Brazil podium. Ferrari, McLaren, Corvette, the Mustangs and Aston Martin are after that US LMGT3 win too.
Tuesday’s BoP announcement, and Sunday’s race will shed more light on all those prospects. The weekend commences with practice Friday and qualifying Saturday, before the race starts 1pm Texas time Sunday.
Images: FIA WEC
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