2nd Place & Driver of the Day in Austin! | Manthey DK Engineering | WEC Round 5

Last weekend, the Manthey DK Engineering crew were back in action at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for the Lone Star Le Mans. Despite there being talks of rain throughout the weekend, practice and qualifying got underway on Friday and Saturday in near 40-degree heat. James Cottingham secured P4 in the initial qualifying, delivering a performance more than worthy of an advancement through to Hyperpole. Teammate Timur Boguslavskiy converted James' P4 into P3 during the top-10 shootout, cementing an advantageous starting position ahead of Sunday's race.

Whilst on the grid on Sunday ahead of the six hours, the aforementioned weather finally played its hand, dousing a large portion of the circuit with about 10 minutes to go before the green flag. The safety car's reconnaissance laps found standing water down towards the hairpin before the back straight, along the straight and into the final third of the lap, around COTA's 'triple-right'.

After two laps, the safety car made way for the rolling start. Despite the circuit being declared wet, teams remained on the slick tyres; as the rain hadn't covered the entire circuit, this remained the best option, as wet tyres on a dry surface put a car and strategy at a far greater disadvantage than dry tyres on a partly wet circuit.

James' stint put the Porsche into the lead of the race and would be recognised by WEC and the voting public later in the day. After maintaining position brilliantly, Timur took over for the middle stint. Ayhancan Güven's efforts were required earlier than expected when an unforeseen safety car made an appearance after a fellow LMGT3 car, the Lexus RCF, had a coming-together with a hidden crest in one of the run-off areas. Given Güven's driver status within the line-up, and the other two drivers' efforts resulting in the car being in strong contention for the podium, it made sense for Güven to navigate the field after a safety car restart.

As the clock wound down, the late battles became ever more prominent. The sister Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3s of The Heart of Racing put up a strong fight right until the end. Thanks to a straight-line speed advantage, Aston Martin took the victory. For Manthey DK Engineering, it would be 2nd position, a phenomenal effort by the whole team throughout the weekend to bring home the first podium of the season. Once more, James was awarded the Goodyear Wingfoot for Driver of the Day, an accolade that is bestowed to only one driver on the entire grid.

No rest for the wicked; the World Endurance Championship continues in Japan later this month (25th–27th September) at the 6 Hours of Fuji.