WEC News: Porsche 1-2-3 in Qatar romp
Porsche Penske Motorsport secured its first FIA World Endurance Championship victory for the 963 with a commanding display in the season-opening Qatar 1812km, as the German manufacturer swept the podium after Peugeot choked.
The No. 6 drivers – Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer sealed the German manufacturer’s first WEC win since 2017.
It was heartache for Peugeot TotalEnergies, however, as Nico Muller, Jean-Eric Vergne and Mikkel Jensen were set to claim the marque’s best-ever WEC result with second place after a faultless performance in the No.93 Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar. However, a late issue for Vergne saw his car stop as it entered the final lap and drop to seventh as it limped over the line.
Cadillac Racing finished the race fourth overall, the American squad with Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Sebastien Bourdais at the wheel making an epic comeback after an early race impact and front-left damage to the Cadillac V-Series.R.
Rounding out the top five was the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P making its debut with Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman and Yifei Ye putting in a strong performance.
The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry was sixth overall – with the reigning World Champions struggling for pace with the Ferrari 499P. Eighth was the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse, the crew fighting back from an early drive-through-penalty.
Alpine Endurance Team’s No. 35 Alpine A424 drove a steady race to finish ninth and the last crew to bag points was the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar.
In the end, the #6 crossed the line 1-lap clear of the competition after a late stop to place a new number sticker on the car.
Proton Competition narrowly missed out on a points finish its trio of drivers finished the race 11th overall in their Porsche. Elsewhere, it was a difficult race for BMW M Team WRT who finished 12th and 16th in its pair of BMW M Hybrid V8 cars.
Lamborghini Iron Lynx completed its first WEC race, finishing 15th while Isotta Fraschini retired from its first race after five hours into the race with a mechanical issues.
“Today we achieved another milestone with our Porsche Penske Motorsport team,” says Roger Penske, team founder and chairman of Penske Corporation. “This is a long-term project, which started a long time ago. Experiencing our first overall victory in the FIA WEC at the start of the 2024 season is an exceptionally nice feeling. It’s the result of the tireless efforts of everyone in the team.”
“Our Porsche Penske Motorsport team has now enjoyed the perfect start to the new season on both sides of the Atlantic,” comments Jonathan Diuguid. The Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport added: “After our victory in Daytona, we were extremely fast with both cars in Qatar today and were rewarded with a victory and a podium finish. This success was the result of hard work. We gave everything we had over the entire distance. It was tough until the last lap. Now we’re all looking forward to the rest of the season.”
LMGT3
Manthey PureRxcing scored a brilliantly judged victory with the No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R shared by Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler at the Qatar Airways Qatar 1812kms to make history by winning the first ever WEC LMGT3 category.
In a close battle for the majority of the race with the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage driven by Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas,
In so doing the team pulled off the first win for a Lithuanian-flagged team in not only the any FIA world championship. Porsche also became the first marque to win in every GT category that has raced in the WEC since its inception in 2012.
In a tense finish Manthey PureRxcing took the checkered flag just 4.8 seconds ahead of their rivals.
A strong opening two stints from Malykhin put the No. 92 Porsche in to a strong position on with a well-earned gap that hovered around the 22-seconds mark for large portions of the race.
When Riberas spun the Heart of Racing Aston during the mid-phase of the 1812kms event it allowed the Manthey PureRxcing trio a little breathing space. But the Aston Martin Vantage came back at them in final hour, although Bachler was able to mostly control the gap.
D’station Racing ensured that two Aston Martin were represented on the podium, as Marco Sorensen, Clement Mateu and Erwan Bastard finished ahead of the No. 46 WRT BMW M4 GT3 entry of Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin and Ahmad Al Harthy for the place on the podium.
Rossi had enjoyed a successful first WEC race in the BMW M4 run by Team WRT completing four stints at the wheel and contributing to a strong performance as he heads to Imola next month for his home race.
Fifth was the No.54 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Davide Rigon, Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci. Rigon was presented with the Goodyear Wingfoot award for the best two average stints during the race.
The top six was rounded off by the second of the No.31 Team WRT BMW M4 cars of Darren Leung, Sean Gelael and Augusto Farfus.
The top 10 was completed with the No.55 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari. Seventh, the No.85 Iron Dames Lamborghini eighth ahead of the No.88 Proton Ford Mustang on its debut and the No.82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3 car.
Winning Driver Quotes
Drivers’ comments after the race
Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): “I’m incredibly proud that we all achieved this together. Our car was extremely strong today and the team worked flawlessly. Still, it wasn’t nearly as easy as it might have looked from the outside – definitely not! We encountered many tricky situations and we also had some contact with other cars. Two hours before the flag, a collision caused significant damage. But even with a less-than-ideal car, we did it. Thanks to everyone in the team and my teammates.”
André Lotterer (Porsche 963 #6): “I’ve waited a long time for this. Finally my first victory for Porsche! Today we had three No. 6 drivers on top of the podium. This triumph is thanks to every single person in the team. Everyone worked incredibly hard and improved so many things for the new season. It works perfectly. We also experienced some nail-biting moments in the race but we kept out cool and brought home the win. We’d be happy to continue like this.”
Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 963 #6): “I’m absolutely delighted. I’ve dreamed of this day for a long time! It’s simply incredible to see how much we’ve progressed compared to the start of the last season. We’ve improved significantly in all areas. It’s great to be a part of it. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved and I will remember this moment for many years to come.”