WEC Austin: Ferrari takes pole from Cadillac after identical qualifying times

Ferrari driver Antonio Giovinazzi claimed his second pole of the 2026 World Endurance Championship at Austin after ending up tied at the top of the times with Cadillac’s Jack Aitken. 

Giovinazzi led the way after posting a 1m52.445s lap aboard the #51 Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar as the chequered flag fell at the end of the 10-minute Hyperpole session on Saturday. 

Aitken then stopped the clocks at exactly the same time aboard the #38 Jota Cadillac V-Series-R LMDh on his second push lap around the 3.43-mile Circuit of the Americas. 

Pole went to Giovinazzi because he set his time first. 

Charles Milesi was another late improver aboard the #35 Alpine A424 LMDh, his 1m52.474s propelling him to third. 

That pushed Harry Tincknell in the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH down to fourth. 

Aston had looked unlikely to build on the pace it showed in free practice as the clock ticked down at the end of the opening 12-minute qualifying session, before Tincknell found more than half a second to get into the top 10 and proceed to Hyperpole. 

Fifth place on the grid went to the second factory AF Corse Ferrari in Nicklas Nielsen’s hands. 

His 1m52.833s in the #50 car put him just ahead of Victor Martins in the #36 Alpine, which ended up on 1m52.886s.

Ryo Hirakawa was a further tenth back in seventh aboard the #8 Toyota TR010 HYBRID LMH, just ahead of Mathys Jaubert in the #17 Genesis GMR-001 LMDh. 

Kamui Kobayashi will line up directly behind his team-mate on the grid in ninth place in the #7 Toyota, with Mathieu Jaminet behind Jaubert in 10th in the #19 Genesis.

Neither WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh made it through into the Hyperpole session, Dries Vanthoor missing out by a tenth of a second in 11th position in first qualifying aboard the #15 entry. 

Peugeot also failed to get either of its 9X8 LMHs through the first round of qualifying. 

Aston Martin tops LMGT3 qualifying

The Heart of Racing Aston Martin team made it three LMGT3 class poles in a row with its #23 entry driven by Eduardo Barrichello. 

The Brazilian, son of 11-time Formula 1 race winner Rubens, topped the 10-minute Hyperpole session in his Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with a 2m05.160s to follow up on Kobe Pauwels’s pole in the same car last time out at Interlagos in July. 

Barrichello, who missed the Brazilian race due to his IMSA SportsCar Championship commitments, subsequently improved to a 2m05.103s, only to lose the time for a track limits violation. 

Zach Robichon made it a 1-2 for the THOR Aston squad, the Canadian ending up just over a tenth down on his team-mate with a 2m05.284s.

Third in class was taken by Timur Boguslavskiy in the #91 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R with a 2m05.483s

The Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race begins at 13:00 local time on Sunday.