Porsche Triumphs in a Chaotic, Rain-Soaked Lone Star Le Mans

Porsche Penske Motorsport emerged victorious in a dramatic and rain-soaked Lone Star Le Mans, held Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas. In a race defined by unpredictable weather and strategic chaos, the No. 6 Porsche 963, driven by Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell, secured a hard-fought win, marking the team’s return to the top step of the podium for the first time since their 2024 victory in Fuji.

Rain played the ultimate equalizer, leveling the playing field and transforming a six-hour endurance race into a high-stakes chess match. The first half of the event was run almost entirely under a safety car due to the treacherous conditions. This period of caution held the starting grid positions largely in place, but confusion mounted just 40 minutes in when the first safety car pitted, leading a significant portion of the field to follow it into the pit lane. A red flag was subsequently shown to allow all cars to return to their positions and reorder the field, a delay that was extended due to hazardous visibility and flooding on the track.

Once the race resumed, the mixed wet and drying conditions tested every team’s tire strategy. It was a chaotic final hour that saw the frontrunners falter and new contenders rise. The No. 6 Porsche, which had a strong run, finished just 8.625 seconds ahead of the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse, a car that had a disappointing qualifying but showed incredible pace in the race.

The pre-race favorites and championship leaders, including the No. 51 and No. 83 Ferraris, both saw their races unravel amid the pandemonium. The No. 83 privateer AF Corse 499P, which had dominated early, saw its challenge fade. Its sister car, the No. 50, put on an impressive comeback to finish in second place. The No. 51 Ferrari 499P, which had led for a significant portion of the race, saw its undoing come in the form of a pit-lane miscue when it pitted sideways into its stall.

For Porsche, the win was a long-awaited triumph. It was the third victory for the team in the 2025 World Endurance Championship and a significant comeback. For Matt Campbell, the win was particularly sweet, marking his first WEC podium finish since Spa in 2019. In a race where the weather created both peril and opportunity, Porsche proved that strategy and skill can conquer even the most unpredictable elements.