Jacko waited fourteen starts for his first IMS win. The second took another week. In Texas, he had to establish his advantage more than once, overcoming two Safety Car periods to beat Hotshot by 8.708 seconds and turn a two-point championship deficit into an eighteen-point lead.
Spain had answered whether he could win. COTA gave him a different problem: keeping the race under control when the field kept getting another chance. His account was of pushing hard to open a gap after both interruptions, then using the space to manage the tyres and battery. The Cadillac was clear again when the flag arrived.
Behind him, Hotshot converted pole into his first IMS podium on his twelfth start. Josh recovered from fourteenth to third for Red Bull, with Contex, Trident and previous championship leader ximqf finishing within 1.161 seconds of him. Jacko had room to breathe; the fight behind Hotshot had rather less.
Jan's start briefly threatens the Australian front row
Hotshot's 1:32.609 beat Jacko to pole by 0.084 seconds. Jan and ximqf occupied the second row, putting both Cadillacs and the championship leader within reach of the Aston before the start.
It was Jan who made the strongest getaway. Jacko described his team-mate as having “Shot out of a cannon from P3”, briefly leading into Turn 1. Jacko held the inside and emerged ahead. Cadillac had two cars in the opening contest, but it was the driver fresh from his breakthrough who would turn it into another win.
The Safety Cars brought back a familiar threat. Jacko had led in Singapore before an interruption helped undo his winning chance; in Spain, his one-stop race had finally brought the reward. This time, he said, he pushed to create a gap on both occasions and was still surprised that it worked.
It was certainly helpful for managing tyres and battery to not have someone within 1 second.
— JackoHe reckoned his front-left tyre had finished somewhere in the sixties, perhaps 63 per cent worn. Hotshot reported roughly fifty per cent on the fronts and forty on the rears, but the extra life had not become enough speed to reach the Cadillac. His immediate message to Jacko was “ggs man unreal pace”.
For Hotshot, second was a substantial breakthrough of his own. His previous best IMS race finish had been eighth. After returning to Aston's D3 pairing for Texas, he put the car on pole and brought it home on the podium, completing the Australian one-two the front row had promised.
The podium fight leaves Williams frustrated
Josh's climb supplied the other podium story. He gained eleven places from the grid and finished 1.625 seconds behind Hotshot, with Contex only 0.262 further back. It brought his first podium of the season and moved him to third in the championship.
Trident disputed one of the moves behind that recovery. He reported that Josh had pushed him wide before passing on lap 26; Josh's response in race chat was “Barely tapped you but ok”. Trident finished fifth, 0.651 seconds behind the Red Bull, with Contex between them.
The other Williams had been involved in an earlier dispute with Freed. On lap seven, Freed said ximqf's move forced him off and allowed Trident through. Ximqf accepted responsibility for the initial contact and said he immediately returned the place, while arguing that the contact model had exaggerated the hit. Freed's complaint was that giving one position back had not restored what he had lost to the other car.
Freed finished seventh, meeting the solid-points target he had set in the Home Heroes feature, if hardly by the quiet route he might have preferred. Trident's fifth and ximqf's sixth gave Williams twenty-four points. Cadillac took thirty-six, with Jan adding five for ninth after his promising start.
| Pos | +/− | Team | Driver | Grid | Gap | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 1 | Cadillac | JackoCadillacGrid 21 | 2 | 49:35.355 | 31 |
| P2 | 1 | Aston Martin | Hotshotll_Aston MartinGrid 11 | 1 | +8.708s | 24 |
| P3 | 11 | Red Bull | atmjosh15Red BullGrid 1411 | 14 | +10.333s | 19 |
| P4 | 2 | Ferrari | ContexRLFerrariGrid 62 | 6 | +10.595s | 15 |
| P5 | 0 | Williams | Trident65WilliamsGrid 50 | 5 | +10.984s | 13 |
| P6 | 2 | Williams | ximqfWilliamsGrid 42 | 4 | +11.494s | 11 |
| P7 | 0 | Aston Martin | OGxFREEDAston MartinGrid 70 | 7 | +15.056s | 9 |
| P8 | 0 | Alpine | Carlos VelezAlpineGrid 80 | 8 | +20.797s | 7 |
| P9 | 6 | Cadillac | JanCadillacGrid 36 | 3 | +28.838s | 5 |
| P10 | 3 | Audi | JoãoAudiGrid 133 | 13 | +32.429s | 3 |
| P11 | 1 | VCARB | DoctorBVCARBGrid 101 | 10 | +34.888s | 2 |
| P12 | 5 | Alpine | FredrumguitAlpineGrid 175 | 17 | +35.953s | 1 |
The Texas preview had separated Jacko's breakthrough from ximqf's championship advantage. Jacko now has both. He leads 76–58, while Cadillac's two-point constructors' margin has grown to fourteen, 100–86.
Ximqf still has a first win to find. Jacko has followed his own with another, this time after giving the field two chances to come back at him.
