Round 6 of the 2016 World Endurance Championship will be held at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas on 15-17 September.  This will be the fourth visit by the WEC to the Lone Star State and the fifth race in the United States of America.

We’ve put together some interesting facts and figures about the event, the WEC and the 3.4-mile circuit near Austin:

1. The first ever FIA World Endurance Championship race was held in the USA at Sebring, Florida in March 2012.  In 2013 the date of the North American round was moved to September and the race would be held at the Circuit of the Americas.

2. The event was named the Lone Star Le Mans in 2014.  The WEC race is the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas.

3. The Lone Star Le Mans event features a round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship making the event one of two Endurance Weekends, the other being Silverstone where the European Le Mans Series raced on the same weekend as the FIA WEC.

4. Audi won the first three FIA WEC races held in the USA.  Tom Kristensen / Dindo Capello / Allan McNish won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2012, Tom Kristensen / Loic Duval / Allan McNish won at the Circuit of The Americas in 2013 and Marcel Fässler / Andre Lotterer / Benoit Tréluyer won in 2014.

5. The 2015 race was won by the eventual World Endurance Champions in the no17 Porsche 919 Hybrid Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard

6. Aston Martin won both the LMGTE Pro and Am classes in 2013 and 2014.  In 2015 the no91 Porsche Team Manthey of Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen took victory in the LMGTE Pro class, while the SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Victor Shaytar, Andrea Bertolini and Aleksey Basov took the win in LMGTE Am.

7. G Drive Racing is unbeaten in qualifying at the Circuit of The Americas, securing the LMP2 pole position in the past three events.  In 2013 Mike Conway and John Martin took pole in an Oreca 03.  In 2014 Roman Rusinov and Oliver Pla took pole in a Ligier JS P2 and in 2015 Julian Canal and Sam Bird secured pole in a Ligier JS P2.

8. G Drive Racing secured the top step of the LMP2 podium from pole position in 2013 and 2015, while the no47 KCMG Oreca-Nissan took victory in 2014,

9. LAP RECORDS

LMP1           B. Tréluyer            Audi R18 e-tron quattro                1m47.375 184.9kph 22 Sept 2013

LMP2           M. Conway            Oreca 03 - Nissan                          1m54.559 173.3kph 22 Sept 2013

LMGTE Pro   K. Kobayashi         Ferrari F458 Italia                           2m03.520 160.8kph 22 Sept 2013

LMGTE Am   N. Thiim                Aston Martin Vantage V8                2m04.830 159.1kph 22 Sept 2013

10. All four lap record holders will be taking part in the 2016 race but only Benoit Treluyer is competing in the same class as the record he holds.  Mike Conway (LMP2) and Kamui Kobayashi (LMGTE Pro) are now racing in LMP1 for Toyota Gazoo Racing, while Nicki Thiim is now racing in LMGTE Pro for Aston Martin Racing.

11. 31 WEC cars will compete in Texas, representing 13 different nations - ARE, AUT, CHE, CHN, DEU, FRA, GBR, HKG, ITA, JPN, MEX, RUS, USA

12. 86 drivers will be on the grid at CoTA, from 20 countries - ARE, AUS, AUT, BRA, CAN, CHE, DEU, DNK, ESP, FRA, GBR, ITA, JPN, MCO, MEX, NLD, NZL, PRT, RUS, USA

13. The 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas is only one of two night races on the WEC calendar (excluding the 24 Hours of Le Mans), the other being the 6 Hours of Bahrain in November.

14. The Circuit of the Americas is the only FIA-certified Grade 1 track in the United States.

15. The Circuit of The Americas track is a 3.4-mile circuit track with capacity for 120,000 fans and an elevation change of 133 feet / 40.5m.

16. Construction of the track began in January 2011

17. The first lap of the finished circuit was completed by legendary US racer Mario Andretti.

18. The track is 20-turn, counterclockwise and draws inspiration from the best circuits around the world. There is a steep, uphill run into the hairpin Turn 1, which has become the venue's signature corner. Turns 3 through 6 look not dissimilar to Silverstone's high-speed Maggotts/Becketts; Turns 12 through 15 give a nod to Hockenheim's stadium section.

19. Construction of the 375-acre Circuit of The Americas project cost approximately $400 million in private investment and created approximately 1,700 construction jobs.

20. The 25 storey Observation Tower was designed by Austin-based Miró Rivera Architects and gives some great views of the circuit, the Texas countryside and Austin skyline.