“Hard earned victories”: Timo Bernhard reflects on winning with Porsche at Circuit of the Americas

The Lone Star Le Mans returns to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas on September 1, with the iconic race taking place for the first time since 2020.

The 3.426-mile (5.514 km) Texan circuit, featuring 20 turns and inspired by traditional tracks such as Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, has played host to the FIA World Endurance Championship several times over the years, with the inaugural event taking place in 2013 alongside the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Two years later, Porsche took its first of three consecutive victories at what was then called the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, and Timo Bernhard was front and centre of those efforts. The two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and twice WEC champion competed in the top class of endurance racing with Porsche for four years, scoring 12 wins and a further 11 podiums.

Bernhard, who is now a Porsche brand ambassador, fondly remembers his times racing at Circuit of the Americas - none more so than the 2015, 2016 and 2017 races at which he took victory alongside first Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley and later Hartley and Earl Bamber.

“In 2015, we started second and we had a good start with Mark [Webber] pulling away,” he recalls. “Something happened which we laugh about now but at the time it was crazy: They had the IMSA race the day before and they had put up a wall in pitlane, but then for the race they pulled them off and we had the normal F1 pitlane. Mark just missed the entrance of our pit box and drove past and the mechanics had to push the car back.

“In the end we lost a ton of time, but we managed to come back and win that race, which was very emotional. It was part of a four-win streak that year on the way to a championship title. In 2016, the Audis were a bit faster, but we did a different strategy with single-stinting rather than double-stinting the drivers.

“It was super hot, it felt like 50 degrees I remember, and we were in an ice tub preparing the drivers. We had all these little details and in the end we won by less than 10 seconds ahead of the Audi, so it was a good race.

“In 2017, we were actually quite ahead of Toyota in Austin. We had a new high downforce package, which was super fast, and it was back and forth between the sister Porsche cars. To be honest, they could have won, they were leading, but at the end the team was keen on us to win because we were leading the championship so they froze the race towards the end.

“We were P2 just behind and then we swapped position and froze the race. For sure, as a racer that’s not how you want to win, but it’s a team decision and it’s still happening today that the team is looking to sit with the car who has the best chance of winning the title at the end of the year. It was still a good race and a race we pushed a lot for a great result.”

The team did go on to capture the title - its second in three years, having also won in 2015, with the sister Porsche of Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb taking the championship victory in 2016.

After 2017, the WEC only made one more visit to COTA - in 2020, as part of the COVID-affected season. But it makes its return to the calendar for 2024, a move welcomed by many both within Porsche and the whole championship. It is known for producing exhilarating racing across many championships, whether Formula 1, MotoGP or elsewhere.

Bernhard praises the Hermann Tilke-designed track for its blend of traditional characteristics - inspired by old-school circuits such as Silverstone and Istanbul Park - and more modern aspects, such as bigger runoff areas and brand-new facilities.

“I liked the track a lot, because it has a very good flow,” he says. “I think it’s one of the modern tracks which still have elements from the older days - you have a lot of runoffs, which is a modern part, but you have a lot of change of direction and connecting corners, where you need to have quite a good feeling of choosing the racing line and driving techniques, which I like.

“My favourite part is definitely the esses, the first part of it until Turn 10 with the hairpin coming back. You have high speed combined with the aero forces of these cars, but you also have these connecting corners where if you get the first corner wrong, you suffer in the corner later.

“This is something I like because you have to think ahead, you need to have a really deep understanding and knowledge of driving techniques. You always feel like you have to fine-tune a bit here and there, and also react to the changing conditions, balance and weather.

“There are different elements, so that’s why I have a good memory driving-wise. The 919 Hybrid was a very powerful car at the time, it wasn’t so far from the Formula 1 cars at that time - for sure now they are much faster, but back then - and obviously the racing was always very good.

“In 2014 there was a big pile-up when the weather changed and I was actually in the car stuck in the gravel, so not a good memory, but after that we won three times in a row. 2015 and 2016 were very hard earned victories and it was great racing.”

Since retiring from full-time competition, Bernhard has transitioned into his current role as a Porsche brand ambassador, promoting the marque at events worldwide - something he says is the “next best thing” after driving.

The German appeared in the Porsche hospitality at Le Mans as an expert, speaking to fans and VIPs, and often participates in public speaking engagements. He also works with the drivers as an advisor in the Porsche Penske Motorsport team, helping to bridge the link between the engineering team and the drivers themselves.

With Porsche making its first visit to Circuit of the Americas since that last win in 2017, and with both the #5 and #6 crews performing so strongly this year, can the team once again emerge victorious in the Lone Star State? Find out on September 1.