Estre insists race-winning move on Pier Guidi was fair

It only took one narrow window left open for Kévin Estre to force the No. 6 Porsche 963 through to the lead, and eventually the win, for he and Porsche Penske Motorsport teammates Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell at COTA.

The decisive moment in Sunday’s rain-soaked six-hour race came on a Safety Car restart with less than two hours to go. Estre was second in line behind race leader Alessandro Pier Guidi’s No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P, and had been studying the lines that co-driver Campbell had taken earlier in the race.

“I spent the first four hours watching the on-board and I knew where the wet lines were from my teammates, so I could do a good restart,” Estre said.

“Then I think Pier Guidi just lifted a little bit in the last corner so we were close together there [on the front straightaway].”

From his perspective, the inside lunge up the inside of Turn 1 was a calculated and fair move, and the wheel-to-wheel contact which inflicted a left front puncture on the No. 51 Ferrari was a racing incident.

“I knew I wanted to try to overtake early, and so I went for a move and then we had another little touch, I was on the inside and he didn't want to open the door.”

It was a necessary move for Estre on the way to a critical victory that kept his and Vanthoor’s slim championship hopes alive, but the contact and the puncture did take the Ferrari out of contention for the victory – ultimately, Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi finished fifth.

"It’s side-by-side, and I left room there – it’s not like I pushed him wide at that time," Estre said. "There was room on the right, he just decided to turn while I was there. I cannot go anywhere.”

All that was left to do after making the move for the lead was to keep up the pace and rhythm in the final two hours, not an easy task, as multiple incidents prevented Estre from building an even bigger gap over the field.

“The car was amazing in the wet at this stage; there was no aquaplaning anymore and the conditions were really good. And then there was a Safety Car and a restart, and another Safety Car, so the gap between us always went to zero.”

The track dried enough for LMGT3 teams to take slick tires and then reap the reward of victories and podiums near the end, but it was a much different story in Hypercar. The No. 7 Toyota GR010–Hybrid and No. 15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 only lost pace or lost control once they took a chance on slicks, and that influenced Porsche’s decision to keep its two cars on wet tires at the end.

“Towards the end, the Ferrari was very strong when the track was drying, and obviously it was a matter of thinking when to put slicks on, or not, and it took a really long time to dry,” Estre said.

“There was a lot of communication between me and the pit stand, plus the other drivers watching the onboard and looking at what's going on, also analyzing the other cars which were on slicks earlier.

“So it was difficult, but I was pretty confident that the guys would make the right choice with all the input we can give. The last laps were tough with the GT car, because I think they were on slicks, and really fast and very tough to pass them.”

Ultimately a splash of fuel was all Estre needed at the end to take his and Vanthoor’s first WEC win since the 2024 6 Hours of Fuji, and Campbell’s first in any WEC class since the 2019 6 Hours of Spa.

“I think car No. 6 is really strong, and we keep showing it. And I’m really proud to be part of this group,” Estre said.