“Diving for the inside” by Steve is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
The COTA Lap Record is held by an F1 car, but there’s a number of other series that race at Circuit of the Americas that set equally impressive lap times.
This article lists the COTA lap records and fastest lap times for F1, MotoGP, Nascar, TransAm and a number of other major series that race on the Austin circuit.
Contents
COTA circuit layouts
There are two differnet COTA track layouts, the Grand Prix circuit and the National circuit.
The Grand Prix circuit is 3.4 miles / 5.5km long and is used for pretty much all major events at the track.
The National circuit is 2.3 miles / 3.8km long and misses out Turns 6 to 11 of the full circuit. It’s rarely used for any major events. One of the biggest events held on it was the V8 Supercars Austin 400 race in 2013 – the only time the V8 Supercars races in the US.
All of the lap times and lap records listed below are set on the full Grand Prix circuit.
qualifying laps or race laps?
For a lap record to be official it needs to have been set during a race. However, faster laps will often be set in qualifying when the car or bike is lighter and faster.
Below I’ll list all of the official lap records, plus any faster qualifying laps if they exist.
COTA F1 lap record
The official F1 lap record at COTA is 1:36.139 set by Charles Leclerc driving for Ferrari in the 2019 United States Grand Prix.
The fastest F1 lap time ever recorded at Circuit of the Americas is 1:32.029 set by Valtteri Bottas during qualifying for the 2019 US GP, driving his Mercedes W10. Video of the lap here.
This shows how much quicker the F1 cars are in qualifying spec; over 4 seconds faster in qualifying than the quickest lap in the race the day after.
Bottas went on to win that race after starting on pole, taking the chequered flaf right in front of the COTA main grandstand packed with fans.
“2018-F1-Qual” by Joe McGowan is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
how fast do F1 cars go at COTA?
The top speed recorded by an F1 car at COTA is 345.1kph / 214.4mph. This was achieved by Kevin Magnussen driving for Renault during the 2016 United States Grand Prix.
Top speeds are always likely to be higher during the race as the drivers can use the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and can slipstream other cars, both of which help increase top speeds massively.
MotoGP lap record at COTA
The MotoGP COTA lap record is 2:03.126 set by Alex Rins during the 2023 Grand Prix of the Americas riding for the LCR Honda Castrol team.
The COTA fastest lap time ever recorded on a MotoGP bike is 2:01.892, set during qualifying by Francesco Bagnaia in 2023. This is the first and only sub-2:02 lap of COTA on a MotoGP bike.
MotoGP top speed at COTA
The top speed for a MotoGP bike at COTA is 356.4kph / 221.5mph achieved by Maverick Viñales during the 2023 race at the Austin circuit. He was riding for the Aprilia team and the speed was recorded on the back straight between turns 11 and 12 whilst he was slipstreaming other riders.
Amazingly that is 7mph faster than the highest ever F1 car speed recorded at Circuit of the Americas. Brave blokes.
Nascar Cup Series lap record at COTA
The Nascar Cup series lap record at COTA is 2:12.71 set by Tyler Reddick during the 2023 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Reddick was driving a Toyota Camry TRD for the 23XI Racing team.
Reddick won the race in commanding fashion, leading 41 of the 75 laps and surviving three race restarts in the dying moments.
The faster ever Nascar Cup series lap time at Circuit of the Americas is 2:10.76 set by William Byron during qualifying for the 2023 race at the Austin circuit.
“NASCAR_COTA-331-Edit-1” by Joe McGowan is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
Nascar Xfinity Series COTA lap record
The Nascar Xfinity series lap record at COTA is 2:15.21 set by A.J. Almendinger during the 2023 Pit Boss 250 race. Almendinger was driving a Chevrolet Camaro SS for the Kaulig Racing team.
The all time COTA fastest lap time for the Nascar Xfinity series cars is 2:13.18, also set by A.J. Alemendiger. This time the lap was set during qualifying for the 2023 race.
Nascar Truck Series COTA lap record
The Nascar Truck Series COTA lap record is 2:15.29 set by Kyle Busch during the 2023 XPEL 225 race at the circuit. He was driving a Chevrolet Silverado for his own team Kyle Busch Motorsports. This time is only 8 hundredths of a second slower than the Xfinity lap record.
The fastest lap time ever recorded for the Nascar Truck Series at Circuit of the Americas is 2:13.61 set by Ross Chastain during qualifying for the 2023 race.
Indycar COTA lap record
The Indycar lap record at COTA is 1:48.90 set by Colton Herta during the 2019 Indycar Classic event at the Texas circuit. Herta was driving for the Harding Steinbrenner Racing team, and went on to win the race.
The fastest ever Indycar lap at Circuit of the Americas is 1:45.45 set by Felix Rosenqvist during the third qualifying session for the 2019 race.
Indycar has only ever raced at COTA once, in 2019. They had planned on a three year deal to run at the circuit but the second event in 2020 was called off due to Covid and Indycar never returned after that.
TransAm Circuit of the Americas lap record
The TransAm lap record at COTA is 2:05.65 set by Matthew Brabham driving a Ford Mustang TransAm during the 2022 race at the Austin circuit.
The all time COTA fastest lap time for a TransAm car is 2:04.28 set by Boris Said during qualifying for the 2022 race. Boris was driving a Dodge Challenger TransAm.
The old-school TransAm cars run V8 pushrod engines with over 850bhp, have huge slick tyres and run minimal downforce. They’re incredibly fast and they’re light weight, a little over 2600lbs / 1180kg, meaning they set very quick lap times.
GT World Challenge America COTA lap record
The GT World Challenge America lap record at COTA is 2:05.56 set by Shelby Blackstock and Trent Hindman driving an Acura NSX GT3 in the 2020 race at the circuit. The pair went on to win the race.
The fastest ever lap time at COTA for a GT World Challenge America car is 2:04.59 set by Patrick Long driving a Porsche 911 GT3 during qualifying for the 2016 race at the Texas circuit.
MotoAmerica COTA lap record
The MotoAmerica lap record at COTA is 2:09.46 set by Toni Elias during the 2016 race in Austin. He was riding for the Yoshimura Suzuki factory team in the Superbike class.
The COTA fastest lap time ever for a MotoAmerica Superbike is 2:08.18 set by Roger Hayden during qualifying in 2017.
SuperLap Battle COTA lap record
The overall SuperLap Battle record at COTA is 2:00.83 set by Cameron Lawrence driving a McLaren 720 GT3. That was in the Pro / Competition class which allows GT3 races cars to enter.
The more interesting SuperLap Battle record is for the unlimited class which allows home-built track specials with no rules to compete for the fastest lap time. 2023 saw the COTA fastest lap time for this class beaten.
The new SuperLap Battle unlimited class lap record at COTA is 2:03.85 set by Feras Qartoumy driving his mad Corvette Z06. The Corvette is a long way from standard, with a 1200bhp twin-turbo V8 and a huge aero kit that produces 3260lbs / 1480kg of downforce at 160mph.
Check out the Hoonigan boys checking out the mad Z06 below.
COTA overall lap record
The overall lap record at COTA is 1:36.139 set by Charles Leclerc driving for Ferrari in the 2019 United States Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The fastest lap time ever recorded at Circuit of the Americas is 1:32.029 set by Valtteri Bottas during qualifying for the 2019 US F1 GP, driving his Mercedes W10.
No surprises here then that it’s an F1 car that sets the fastest overall lap. The second fastest class to race here was the Indycar series, but their fastest lap of 1:48.9 also set in 2019 was an incredible 12 seconds slower than the F1 lap time.
