The Porsche 963 scored its first victory in the FIA WEC World Endurance Championship by winning the 1812 Km of Qatar, the opening round of the 2024 season. It is the #6 Penske Motorsport Porsche driven by Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor who won after 10 hours of racing.
The 1812 Km of Qatar, the first round of the 2024 FIA WEC season, was marked by the victory of the #6 Porsche 963 from Porsche Penske Motorsport. It’s about first success of the German Hypercar in this championship, after winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona earlier this year as part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Porsche even scored a hat-trick since the #12 Hertz Team JOTA and the #5 finished in second and third place in the general classification.
The #2 Cadillac V-Series.R of Cadillac Racing finished in fourth position, one lap behind the winners while the #83 Ferrari 499P of AF Corse completed the top 5.
While the #93 Peugeot seemed headed for a brilliant second place, the car encountered a mechanical problem on the last lap. The French Hypercar crossed the finish line in 7th place. Ultimately, the team was disqualified due to a violation of technical regulations. Note that this was the last race of the 9X8 in its wingless configuration since the lion brand will initiate an evolution during the next round, the 6 Hours of Imola.
The final top 5 in the Hypercar category:
1. Porsche 963 #6 – Porsche Penske Motorsport – 335 tours
2. Porsche 963 #12 – Hertz Team JOTA +33.297s
3. Porsche 963 #5 – Porsche Penske Motorsport + 34,396s
4. Cadillac V-Series.R #2 – Cadillac Racing – 334 tours
5. Ferrari 499P #83 – AF Corse + 14.889s
In the FIA World Endurance Championship for Hypercar Manufacturers, Porsche leads the way with 39 points ahead of Cadillac (23 points), Toyota (18 points), Ferrari (15 points), Alpine (12 points) and BMW (6 points).
For Porsche, the success is total over these 1812 km of Qatar since the 911 GT3 R #92 from Manthey PureRxcing climbed to the highest step of the podium in the LMGT3 category. This car driven by Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler literally dominated. She won ahead of two Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3s with, in order, the #27 of Heart Of Racing ahead of the #777 of D’Station Racing.
Valentino Rossi, nine-time world champion in motorcycle grand prix, took part in his very first race in the FIA WEC. He drove the #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 for Team WRT. With his teammates, Ahmad Al Harthy and Maxime Martin, he placed 4th.
The final top 5 in the LMGT3 category:
1. Porsche 911 GT3.R #92 – Manthey PureRxcing – 299 tours
2. Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 #27 – Heart Of Racing +4,866s
3. Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 #777 – D’Station Racing – 298 tours
4. BMW M4 LMGT3 #46 – Team WRT +12,647s
5. Ferrari 296 LMGT3 #54 – Vista AF Corse – 297 laps
Let us point out that three cars were forced to abandon on mechanical problems: the #11 Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C, the #81 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R from TF Sport and the #78 Lexus RC F LMGT3 from Akkodis ASP Team. The #38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 was not classified. The latter was notably driven by Jenson Button, Formula 1 World Champion in 2009.
The next round of the FIA WEC 2024 will be the 6 Hours of Imola. Appointment on Sunday April 21. Who will respond to Porsche Penske Motorsport and Manthey PureRxcing?