Eduardo Barrichello secured LMGT3 pole position for the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Lone Star Le Mans as Heart of Racing Team completed an Aston Martin front-row lockout at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
Barrichello produced a 2m05.160s in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 to beat teammate Zacharie Robichon in the No. 27 by 0.124s. The result gave the Brazilian his third pole from four FIA WEC Hyperpole appearances and continued Aston Martin’s unbeaten Qualifying run since Spa.
Timur Boguslavskiy secured third for Manthey DK Engineering ahead of Proton Competition’s Ben Tuck, while the championship-leading TF Sport Corvette failed to progress beyond the opening Qualifying phase.
2026 FIA WEC: Lone Star Le Mans: LMGT3: Qualifying
Gattuso puts Proton Competition on top
Stefano Gattuso set the pace during the opening LMGT3 Qualifying phase as Proton Competition continued the strong COTA form it had demonstrated across the weekend.
The Italian put the No. 88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 he shares with Giammarco Levorato and Logan Sargeant at the head of the order. Iron Lynx’s Martin Berry finished approximately 0.38s behind in the No. 61 Mercedes-AMG, while Alexander West placed the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren third.
Ford had already shown encouraging speed during Free Practice, and Gattuso’s performance ensured both Proton entries reached Hyperpole. Eric Powell also advanced the No. 77 Mustang before handing over to Tuck for the decisive session.
Heart of Racing safely progressed both Aston Martins despite neither leading the opening phase. Gray Newell put the No. 23 through for Barrichello, while Ian James ensured Robichon would have the opportunity to contest pole in the sister No. 27.
Manthey DK Engineering’s No. 91 Porsche, the No. 21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari, No. 32 Team WRT BMW and No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus also secured places among the 10 Hyperpole contenders. Nine manufacturers entered LMGT3 at COTA, highlighting the variety within the class.
Championship-leading Corvettes eliminated
TF Sport suffered the most significant setback of the opening session as neither Corvette reached Hyperpole.
Racing Team Turkey by TF qualified 12th with the No. 34 Corvette shared by Peter Dempsey, Salih Yoluç and Charlie Eastwood. The crew arrived at COTA directly from victory at São Paulo but could not reproduce that front-running Qualifying performance in Texas.
The championship-leading No. 33 Corvette faced an even more difficult session. Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar and Nicky Catsburg will start 17th in the 18-car class after the American marque became the only LMGT3 manufacturer without a representative in Hyperpole.
The Bend Manthey also missed the top 10, leaving the defending LMGT3 champion No. 92 Porsche of Yasser Shahin, Riccardo Pera and Richard Lietz 13th on the grid.
The results leave two of the championship’s strongest crews facing a recovery race on Sunday, although both have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to progress through the order across the season.
LMGT3 Qualifying classification
- Ford #88 — Proton Competition — 2m06.331s — 6 laps
- Mercedes-AMG #61 — Iron Lynx — +0.383s — 5 laps
- McLaren #58 — Garage 59 — +0.408s — 6 laps
- Porsche #91 — Manthey DK Engineering — +0.458s — 6 laps
- Aston Martin #27 — Heart of Racing Team — +0.474s — 5 laps
- Ferrari #21 — VISTA AF Corse — +0.495s — 6 laps
- Ford #77 — Proton Competition — +0.546s — 6 laps
- BMW #32 — Team WRT — +0.737s — 6 laps
- Lexus #87 — Akkodis ASP Team — +0.764s — 5 laps
- Aston Martin #23 — Heart of Racing Team — +0.817s — 5 laps
- Ferrari #54 — VISTA AF Corse — +0.931s — 5 laps
- Corvette #34 — Racing Team Turkey by TF — +1.112s — 6 laps
- Porsche #92 — The Bend Manthey — +1.148s — 6 laps
- McLaren #10 — Garage 59 — +1.228s — 6 laps
- Lexus #78 — Akkodis ASP Team — +1.291s — 5 laps
- BMW #69 — Team WRT — +1.797s — 5 laps
- Corvette #33 — TF Sport — +2.533s — 6 laps
- Mercedes-AMG #79 — Iron Lynx — +2.637s — 6 laps
2026 FIA WEC: Lone Star Le Mans: LMGT3: Hyperpole
Barrichello continues Heart of Racing pole streak
Aston Martin moved to the front once the Silver-rated drivers took control for the 10-minute Hyperpole session.
Barrichello established the No. 23 Vantage AMR as the car to beat and initially improved to a 2m05.103s. Officials deleted that effort for a track-limits infringement, but his earlier 2m05.160s remained sufficient to secure pole.
The performance marked Barrichello’s third pole from only four FIA WEC Hyperpole appearances. It also continued an exceptional sequence for Heart of Racing after Mattia Drudi put the No. 27 Aston Martin on pole at Le Mans before substitute Kobe Pauwels repeated the achievement with the No. 23 at São Paulo.
Aston Martin therefore became the first manufacturer to claim three consecutive LMGT3 Hyperpole positions since the category joined the championship. The result also represented the marque’s 73rd FIA WEC pole across all classes.
Robichon completes Heart of Racing front-row lockout
Robichon came closest to denying Barrichello and secured second with a 2m05.284s in the No. 27 Aston Martin.
The Canadian finished only 0.124s behind the valid pole time, completing Heart of Racing’s first front-row lockout of the season. Aston Martin also achieved the first single-manufacturer LMGT3 front row since the corresponding COTA event in 2025.
The result continued an impressive weekend for the No. 27 crew after Robichon had already topped FP2. He shares the car with James and Le Mans polesitter Drudi, giving Heart of Racing two realistic opportunities to convert its Qualifying advantage into victory.
Boguslavskiy edges Tuck for third
Boguslavskiy produced an impressive Hyperpole performance to put the No. 91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche third.
His 2m05.483s placed him 0.323s behind Barrichello. Tuck recorded an identical lap in the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford, but Boguslavskiy secured third by setting the time first.
Tuck therefore settled for fourth, one year after Ford dominated LMGT3 Qualifying at COTA. The result nevertheless places Proton Competition in a strong position to challenge the Aston Martins when the six-hour race begins.
The No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren followed in fifth ahead of the No. 21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari, while Team WRT’s No. 32 BMW and the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG completed the first eight positions.
Levorato unable to repeat 2025 pole
The second Proton Competition Mustang finished ninth after Levorato made a mistake late in the session.
The Italian had claimed LMGT3 pole at COTA in 2025 and entered Hyperpole with another opportunity after Gattuso topped the opening session. However, his error prevented the No. 88 from mounting a final challenge at the front.
The No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus completed the Hyperpole field, leaving seven different manufacturers represented among the leading 10 cars despite Aston Martin controlling the first two positions.
LMGT3 Hyperpole classification
- Aston Martin #23 — Heart of Racing Team — Eduardo Barrichello — 2m05.160s
- Aston Martin #27 — Heart of Racing Team — Zacharie Robichon — +0.124s
- Porsche #91 — Manthey DK Engineering — Timur Boguslavskiy — +0.323s
- Ford #77 — Proton Competition — Ben Tuck — +0.323s
- McLaren #58 — Garage 59 — Benjamin Goethe
- Ferrari #21 — VISTA AF Corse — Alessio Rovera
- BMW #32 — Team WRT — Augusto Farfus
- Mercedes-AMG #61 — Iron Lynx — Maxime Martin
- Ford #88 — Proton Competition — Giammarco Levorato
- Lexus #87 — Akkodis ASP Team — Clemens Schmid
Aston Martin leads LMGT3 field into Sunday
Heart of Racing Team will therefore occupy the complete LMGT3 front row for Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans, with the No. 23 ahead of the No. 27.
Aston Martin has now claimed three consecutive class poles, but the team remains focused on converting its recent Qualifying strength into a race victory. The two Heart of Racing cars will face immediate pressure from Manthey DK Engineering and Proton Competition, while the championship-leading No. 33 Corvette faces a significantly more difficult task from 17th.
The 2026 Lone Star Le Mans begins at 13:00 local time (GMT-5) on Sunday, 6 September and runs for six hours at the Circuit of The Americas.
See Hypercar Qualifying and Hyperpole report.
