In Austin's HEK GP, the trio of Jones, Bradford and George Foreman delivered a broadcast that began with some Cropex sponsorship confusion, technology failures, and repeated lobbying for rain before the race immediately descended into chaos. A multi-car incident triggered by Kaltenbach wiped out both Ferraris, triggered penalties, wing damage, VSC chaos, and somehow left Daniil Blyat briefly leading a race, which commentators treated with the appropriate level of historical alarm.
Fatzinger led early and looked strong, but Pepovic slowly took control, surviving safety car resets, pressure, penalties around him, and the general threat of Daniil existing nearby to win Gene Haas' home race in Austin. Behind him, Jean-Émmanuel Tornado and Kermit Fatzinger produced the race's defining duel, with Tyrnado beating his declared lifelong rival by roughly six hundredths and later confirming that, yes, in emotional terms, he had killed him.
Havspiser also charged back into the result and immediately announced he was angry, salty, and already making receipts in Sony Vegas. By the end, Pepovic had declared the previously Mickey Mouse race “the crown jewel of motorsport,” George Foreman had survived his commentary debut, and everyone involved seemed to agree on only one thing: nobody fully understood what they had just witnessed, but it was cinema.
Race Classification
| Pos | Driver | Team | Grid | Stops | Best | Time | POV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P. PEPOVICPietro PEPOVIC | MoneyGram Haas | 8 | 1 | 1:38.764 | 35:46.127 | [] |
| 2 | J. TYRNADOJean-Émmanuel TYRNADO | McLaren | 9 | 2 | 1:38.902 | +8.881 | [] |
| 3 | K. FATZINGERKermit FATZINGER | Alfa Romeo | 5 | 1 | 1:38.779 | +8.949 | [] |
| 4 | H. GATEVOLDHavspiser GATEVOLD | Scuderia Ferrari | 1 | 2 | 1:39.985 | +22.787 | [] |
| 5 | K. JONESKainalo JONES | Asko Martti | 11 | 2 | 1:38.452 | +32.853 | |
| 6 | E. DE GAAIJErik DE GAAIJ | Scuderia Ferrari | 7 | 1 | 1:38.944 | +40.461 | [] |
| 7 | S. CARLOSSilver CARLOS | AlphaTauri | 10 | 2 | 1:38.410 | +1:08.341 | [] |
| 8 | D. BLYATDaniil BLYAT | Alpine | 3 | 1 | 1:42.787 | +1:46.839 | [] |
| 9 | T. JIRAToshiba Stereo JIRA | Alpine | 4 | 1 | 1:41.601 | DNF | [] |
| 10 | E. LORENZO-QUAKERElgu LORENZO-QUAKER | Asko Martti | 12 | 0 | 1:53.035 | DNF | |
| 11 | F. KALTENBACHFabiano Utz Claus KALTENBACH | Red Bull | 6 | 1 | 2:11.772 | DNF | |
| 12 | V. TURBOSLAVVahishton TURBOSLAV | McLaren | 2 | 0 | 1:39.567 | DNF | [] |
