Austin, U.S.A. – Jenson Button and Callum Ilott were on hand at ExxonMobil’s Houston to unveil a very special black and gold livery for Mobil 1’s 50th anniversary ahead of the World Endurance Championship race at Circuit of the Americas.
The livery would feature at the race in Texas on #38 car driven by Jenson Button, Oliver Rasmussen, and Phil Hanson. Meanwhile the #12 car driven by Will Stevens, Norman Nato, and Callum Ilott would remain with it’s original white and gold colours.
It was on the #12 car of Hertz Team JOTA cars that made it into Saturday’s Hyperpole qualifying session after spin for the #38 car in it’s final run which meant the black and gold Mobil 1 livery would start from 17th on the grid. #12 car piloted by Norman Nato, meanwhile, qualified 10th.
Sunday’s race started well with both cars making progress up the field. With 6 hours of racing, both starting drivers for Hertz Team JOTA managed to avoid any early trouble to set themselves up well for the length of the race.
The #38 car under the direction of Phil Hanson was on a charge up the field and climbed as high as 7th on the grid in the 2 hours of racing. As we approach the midway point of the race there was trouble for #12 car, moving slowly on track it crawl back to the pits were the team decided to retire the car after 67 laps.
Despite the earlier time penalty, the #38 quickly returned to the top 10 when Jenson delivered a clinical stint to take the car to the half-way mark, with Phil and Oliver building upon this performance during a critical mid-race period as the trio began to consolidate their position inside the points.
Oliver pitted for the final time with 56 minutes remaining, leaving Jenson to take the #38 to the chequered flag. In this final push, Jenson put in a mammoth effort to rise up the order but was forced to pit late after sustaining a front-right puncture. After rejoining in 11th, Jenson snatched 10th in the final minutes, with the #38 placing second in the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams.
Following its electrical issue earlier in the race, the #12 meanwhile finished 17th after showing strong pace, worthy of a top five finish.
Hertz Team JOTA are off to Japan next for the edition of the World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Fuji on the 15th of September.