FIA WEC Prologue at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar 2nd Practice

The second test session of the FIA WEC Prologue at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar was highly encouraging for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA. The new effort ended up occupying first and second on the timing screens with its V-Series.Rs.

The best time under the floodlights in the cooler temperatures was a 1m39.575s set by Alex Lynn in the No. 12 during a six-lap qualifying sim on medium tires. It was significantly quicker than the 1m41.673s that Robert Kubica topped the opening session with earlier in the day for AF Corse.

Meanwhile, in the sister No. 38 JOTA Cadillac, Sebastien Bourdais who was also tasked with completing qualifying simulations set a 1m39.788s on his second run to go second.

“It was the first time we had the 38 with Jenson, Earl and I and our engineering group together. The very first time,” related Bourdais.
“Is it perfect? No. Do we have work to do? Yes. But with the Prologue we have plenty of time to learn and go through the test program to be ready for next week. All in all, I’d say it’s been a positive start.”

Third on the screens at the end of the night was the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P. Antonio Fuoco also dipped into the 1m39s and was just two-tenths off the benchmark time during a qualifying sim of his own.

Further down the order the fastest Penske Porsche the No. 5 ended up fourth, while the No. 83 499P from AF Corse took fifth. The quickest Toyota ended up in the top 10, sitting eighth and marginally faster than the two Peugeots which sat ninth and 10th after completing some impressive long runs.

The No. 93 9X8 of Jean-Eric Vergne completed a notable 32-lap stint, followed by a 33-lap run on the same set of hard tires. The No. 94, which ended up 10th, went on a slightly different program, with Stoffel Vandoorne going on a six-lap run, then a 32-lap run, then a 28-lapper, all on the same set of medium Michelins.

On the other side of the coin, the No. 6 Porsche Penske 963, following an engine change, completed no stints longer than 10 laps and would set the seventh-fastest time.

It was another productive outing for the Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyries.
They didn’t light up the times, but did complete a combined total of 174 tours of the Qatar circuit, with the best times 2.7 and 3.4 seconds off the top pace.

LMGT3 saw AKKODIS ASP lead TF Sport again, but this time it was the No. 87 Lexus RC F LMGT3 rather than the No. 78 that set the benchmark time. Jose Maria Lopez set the car’s 1m54.959s, the only lap under 1m55s.

The No. 33 Corvette slotted in second again, with a 1m55.132s from Daniel Juncadella. Vista AF Corse’s Ferraris claimed third and fourth, both within two-hundredths of Juncadella’s lap.

The fastest Session 1 time from Ben Barnicoat a 1m55.862s was bettered by the top 10 cars in the class as the track continued to rubber in. The top eight cars came from four manufacturers, the two Lexus, the two Corvettes, two Ferraris and the two McLarens.
Only one car missed out on the action, the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3.
This is the car that suffered a major fire during the afternoon with Ben Tuck at the wheel.

The car has been stripped down in the garage and appears to be unlikely to take part in tomorrow’s track action while the team assesses the fire damage and, hopefully, rebuilds it. The target, according to a team source, is for the car to be back out for Free Practice 1 on Wednesday.

It was a tough session for Proton as a whole. The sister Mustang sat out the early part of the session, along with the team’s Hypercar class Porsche 963. The No. 88 Ford completed 32 laps, while the No. 99 toured the track 48 times, both the lowest totals in their respective categories

Daniel Juncadella is looking ahead to a “massively exciting” second season with TF Sport in the FIA World Endurance Championship, stepping into a sophomore campaign with the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R with a revised driver lineup.
The Spaniard has been retained as part of the lineup for the Tom Ferrier-led squad after making his championship debut last year.

However, while the sister No. 81 machine will feature an unchanged driver crew compared to last year, Juncadella has been paired up with two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner Ben Keating and reigning European Le Mans Series LMP2 champion Jonny Edgar aboard the newly renumbered No. 33 car.

Keating and Edgar replace Hiroshi Koizumi and Sebastien Baud, respectively, with the former moving into an ELMS program with TF while Baud has joined LMGT3 rivals United Autosports.
Juncadella and Chevrolet are fresh off a competitive second outing for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, where the Spaniard was a contender for GTD Pro victory and finished second alongside Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims.

That race also saw Canadian outfit AWA claim a landmark victory for the car by coming out on top in the GTD class.
“I think this is a very exciting season ahead because last year we started off with some reliability setbacks,” Juncadella told Sportscar365.

“The car was born with a lot of potential in terms of performance, but we had to nurse some typical stuff that you get on a new car that sometimes you don’t expect.
“Also Hiroshi as my teammate last year, unexperienced in WEC, first time really racing [in a] high level championship.
Also same for Sebastien Baud as the silver. I think this year is clearly a massive step forward in all senses.

“I think the car has been very reliable since Daytona. We could see all cars, apart from one of the Corvettes, [had] no issues at all. Even during the whole build-up into the race, our car, at least number the No. 3 Corvette, was great.”
Juncadella argued TF Sport is “for sure” in a better position at Qatar compared to last year’s season opener, where the No. 81 car failed to finish due to damage to the electrical harness, while the Spaniard, Koizumi and Baud finished tenth in class, five laps down.

“We actually we came into Qatar with very limited knowledge,” he said.
“A lot of Pratt Miller guys helping us and supporting us that weekend but still limited knowledge from performance and like straight away nursing little reliability setbacks, so you can’t really focus that much on performance.
“Whereas now we’re just constantly looking for setup gains and finding stuff, so that is a much better [place].”

Juncadella also expressed excitement over working with Keating, who took one of his Le Mans class wins with TF Sport and also claimed the final GTE-Am world title driving for Corvette Racing two years ago.
He drew a comparison to Koizumi, who he says made a “massive step forward” across the course of his first world championship season, but was working through a “language barrier” because of a lack of proficiency in English.

The Japanese driver paired up with a translator during the season and broke through into Hyperpole for the first time at his Fuji home round before ending the season with a third place in the Bahrain season finale.
“Towards the end of the year, I really enjoyed being with him,” Juncadella said.

“But still, the language barrier made a difference. And now with Ben, I think you can see like he’s very relaxed and a lot more relaxed in that sense because he just knows himself.
“He takes it step by step. We’re here at a new track [for him]. He just [does] his first run, and he just takes it step by step.
“He’s very conscious about what’s happening around him, and that’s pretty cool.”

Additionally, with Edgar as a Silver, who Juncadella predicts to be “a surprise for many this year,” the Spaniard expects the No. 33 to be a serious contender in the LMGT3 class across the season.
“It’s clear, I think our car is going to be up there every race fighting for a big win, big results,” he said.

“That’s my take. I think it’s one of the strongest lineups.
“For sure, for me, it’s massively exciting because if I had had this lineup last year with a car that was maybe not ready to fight at the front, it would have been frustrating, I guess.

“We saw in the sister car that they had Tom Van Rompuy, who was very strong straight away. Pole position, first race weekend, [but] not finishing the race.
“I guess all the ingredients are coming together this year, and that’s cool.”

Porsche Penske Motorsport led the way in the third FIA WEC Prologue Test session this afternoon.
The No. 6 963, following its engine change yesterday, led the way with a 1m40.428s from Kevin Estre.
Nobody eclipsed the best time from Friday set by Cadillac’s Alex Lynn 1m39.575s but it was tight, with the top nine ending up within a second of Estre, and the top five setting times in the 1m40s.

The two factory Ferrari 499Ps the No. 51 edging the No. 50 and the No. 83 example from AF Corse ended up slotting in second, third and fourth after completing the most in the Hypercar class
The best times from Ferrari in the heavily delayed session were set late on during qualifying simulations. Antonio Giovanazzi logged a 1m40.679s in the No. 51 and Antonio Fuoco completed a 1m40.722s in the 2024 Le Mans winning No. 50.
The No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R completed the top five with a 1m40.968s from Jenson Button.

As for the Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyries, a source within the team told RACER, “Things are going very well, we are learning a huge amount, with a lot more to come. Every lap sees us learning more about the car and the difference that just a minor change can make on an individual control or setting. It’s very early days.”

The two V12-powered prototypes ended up 17th and 18th, just over two seconds off. But pace isn’t the focus right now, it’s longer running. And both cars logged over 70 laps
An incident at Turn 5 for Racing Spirit of Leman’s Derek Deboer disrupted the test. The Vantage ended up sustaining front and left-hand-side damage from a hit with the barriers, which needed repairing for over an hour.

Race control, due to the time lost, extended the running by an hour. Deboer, thankfully, is okay. The car is repairable but won’t be seen again today.

Up the top in LMGT3, it was TF Sport again flexing its muscles. The No. 33 Corvette completed a 1m55.200s at the hands of Jonny Edgar, who bettered his teammate Daniel Juncadella’s best time during a long run at the very end and came within a 10th.

Vista AF Corse’s Ferrari ended up second with the No. 54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3, and the No. 78 AKKODIS ASP Lexus would sit third by the time the checkered flag was waved.

All but one of the LMGT3s made it out on track, the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang is still being rebuilt after its fire yesterday.
The car has had to be stripped down to its frame by the mechanics.

Robin Frijns set the quickest time of the FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue in Qatar during the fourth and final session.

The Dutchman steered the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 to a best lap of 1:38.971, producing a time that was not only quicker than all previous three sessions, but also faster than last year’s pole position time for the Qatar 1812km set by Matt Campbell.
Sebastien Bourdais was second in the No. 38 Cadillac V-Series.R, 0.145 seconds behind Frijns but just 0.025 seconds quicker than Robert Kubica in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P.

The second BMW slotted into fourth with Dries Vanthoor at the wheel, while the top five was competed by the No. 12 Cadillac piloted by Alex Lynn.
Antonio Fuoco’s No. 50 Ferrari was sixth ahead of the fastest of the Alpine A424s in the hands of Mick Schumacher and the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid driven by Nyck de Vries.

The No. 51 Ferrari and No. 8 Toyota completed the overall top ten, driven by Antonio Giovinazzi and Sebastien Buemi, respectively.
Vista AF Corse went 1-2 to top the LMGT3 ranks, spearheaded by a 1:54.790 set by the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Simon Mann
Mann’s stablemate Francesco Castellacci was a mere 0.020 seconds back in the No. 54 sister car, while Heart of Racing Team completed the top three with its No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo driven by Zach Robichon.

The session was interrupted by a single red flag for debris, although a pair of Full Course Yellows were triggered by spinning Hypercar runners.
First, Bourdais spun the No. 38 Cadillac and got beached at Turn 13 in the opening minutes and needed to be recovered.
Ross Gunn suffered a similar fate in the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie at Turn 4-5 with an hour and 42 minutes to go
With the Prologue running now completed, track action continues with the two opening Free Practice sessions for the Qatar 1812km on Wednesday.

TF Sport star Charlie Eastwood says there is ‘no comparison’ to this time 12 months ago, as the British outfit enters the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign amongst the favorites for glory in the 18-strong LMGT3 field.

Despite qualifying on pole position in the hands of Eastwood’s team-mate Tom van Rompuy in Qatar last year, TF Sport left the 2024 curtain-raising contest with just a single point courtesy of a tenth-place finish for the sister Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R on the car’s FIA WEC debut.

Indeed, there would be no silverware until the end of the campaign, when the two American machines placed second and third after vying for victory in Bahrain but this season, hopes are high for an all-out title bid.

In support of that, both cars were solidly on the leading pace during the traditional two-day ‘Prologue’ group test around Lusail International Circuit last week, ending up fourth and eighth on the combined timesheets after completing more than 600 laps between them equivalent to just over 2,000 miles as they traded purple sectors with Vista AF Corse’s Ferrari 296 LMGT3 and the Lexus RC F LMGT3 run by Akkodis ASP Team.

“Everyone seems pretty happy,” acknowledged series newcomer Jonny Edgar, the quickest of the Corvette sextet at just 0.167s adrift of the outright benchmark. “It’s enjoyable being with TF Sport again. Most of the people I already knew, but I’m also getting used to working with some of the new people.

“Ben [Keating] and Dani [Juncadella] I’ve gotten to know more over the last few days, and they’re obviously very quick. It’s mine and Ben’s first time here so it took us both a little bit to get used to the track, but I feel we were both very comfortable by the end, the car was nice to drive and days went smoothly.
We tried a few things but if, we had to race as we are now, we would be in a pretty good position.”

In the #81 entry, factory driver Eastwood was just over two tenths-of-a-second further in arrears in the car he is continuing to share with 2024 stablemates van Rompuy and Rui Andrade. The Irishman is in bullish mood as the opening round approaches apace later this week (26-28 February).

“There is close to no comparison to where we were a year ago,” Eastwood asserted. “Everyone is in a much better place, and the #33 at least on paper is the strongest driver line-up on the grid. We know what we need to do, we have extra data now, the team is way more well-versed with the Corvette and with the steps forward we have taken with the Z06 GT3.R since this time last year, it’s hard to compare. Ultimately, we seem to be in a pretty good spot.”

Armed with lessons learned from 2024 and buoyed by a GTD class triumph and GTD Pro runner-up result for the ‘Vette in last month’s 24 Hours of Daytona, all sights are now set on sustaining that recent success in the ten-hour Qatar 1812km, which will begin at 14:00 local time (12:00 CET) on Friday.

“Daytona was a very positive kick-off for the Z06 GT3.R in 2025,” reflected Corvette Racing Programme Manager, Jessica Dane.
“It validated the work of our engineers during the off-season to give our customers a Corvette that is now both quick and reliable. All of this makes us extremely excited for Qatar.

“TF Sport has assembled another stellar line-up, and there is a lot of familiarity within the team. Both groups bring tremendous momentum and learnings from the Rolex 24 and last year’s double podium finish in Bahrain.
The goal is to continue carrying that forward to bigger and better things in 2025.”

In LMGT3 for last practice session Sean Gelael put in another strong hot lap for United Autosports to put the No. 95 McLaren GT3 Evo fastest in the class. His best time was a 1m54.569s.
The other United McLaren set a quick time and ended up third, two-tenths off and fractionally slower than the No. 78 AKKODIS ASP Lexus which slotted in second and continues to look like a contender here in Qatar.

The No. 81 TF Sport Corvette took fourth, with a late flyer from Charlie Eastwood that pushed the No. 87 Lexus to fifth.

TF’s No. 33 Corvette, meanwhile, sat outside the top 10 in the classification after suffering an off.
Ben Keating brought out a full course yellow 18 minutes into the 60-minute session after getting himself stranded in the gravel at Turn 2. Thankfully no damage was done and once the car was recovered it continued, completing 21 laps before the end of the session.


Then was Qualify session

Gelael Leads McLaren 1-2 in LMGT3 Qualifying

Sean Gelael fronted a United Autosports 1-2 in LMGT3 qualifying, which saw Silver drivers take part in the Hyperpole session for the first time.
A rule change for LMGT3 qualifying meant that Bronze-rated drivers tackled the first segment, where they would attempt to push through into Hyperpole. Their Silver-rated co-drivers would then take over for the second half.

After the No. 95 McLaren 720s GT3 Evo placed first in the opening segment of qualifying in the hands of Darren Leung, Gelael then did the same in Hyperpole with a 1:54.239.
That allowed him to outpace the No. 59 sister car of Sebastien Baud by 0.239 seconds, with Finn Gehrsitz third in the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3.

Francesco Castellacci completed the second row of the LMGT3 grid in the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, with Simon Mann rounding out the overall top five aboard the sister No. 21 machine.
Clemens Schmid jumped up from last to sixth with a last-gasp effort aboard the No. 87 Lexus.

The top ten was completed by Heart of Racing Team’s Zach Robichon, Team WRT driver Valentino Rossi, the No. 81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Gt3.R and Proton Competition’s No. 88 Ford Mustang GT3 in the hands of Giammarco Levorato.

Notably, both Manthey Racing cars missed out on Hyperpole after both Ryan Hardwick and Celia Martin were knocked out.
The same goes for TF Sport driver Ben Keating, as well as Team WRT’s Yasser Shahin.

The Qatar 1812km starts Friday at 2 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET).

No. 81 Corvette to start on LM GT3 fifth row to kick off FIA WEC season

LUSAIL, Qatar (Feb. 27, 2025) TF Sport’s No. 81 Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.R will start the Qatar 1812 Km and FIA World Endurance Championship season from the fifth row of the LM GT3 grid following Friday’s two-stage qualifying.

Rui Andrade qualified the No. 81 Corvette ninth in class, after teammate Tom Van Rompuy advanced the Z06 GT3.R from the full-field first qualifying session. Van Rompuy, the 2024 Qatar pole-winner in LM GT3, was the ninth-quickest driver in the 12-minute opening qualifying run at 1:56.248 (104.266 mph).
Teammate Andrade went faster to 1:55.424 (105.012 mph) in the 10-car Hyperpole session.

The duo will team with Charlie Eastwood in the No 81 Corvette for the second consecutive WEC season. Van Rompuy starts two rows ahead of Ben Keating in the No. 33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which just missed moving into the Hyperpole contest.
He will drive with Jonny Edgar and Daniel Juncadella.

The 3.37-mile, 16-turn Losail International Circuit was the site of the Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s WEC debut a year ago. Armed with the lessons learned from the venue at year ago plus a win and runner-up finish to start 2025 in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, TF Sport is hoping to continue the momentum from last year’s double-podium finish at the season finale in Bahrain and spring ahead to championship contention in a stacked 18-car LM GT3 field.

TF Sport and the rest of the FIA WEC field will open the season with the Qatar 1812 Km at 2 p.m. Arabian Standard Time / 6 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, February 28.

TF SPORT POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES

RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I feel like our weakness so far has been the low-fuel, new-tire runs. We’ve struggled with it since the Prologue. Besides that, our car is super-strong on the long run with full fuel.
We showed it earlier today. Charlie had mega pace in FP3, which is the part of the race where it counts. It’s a long race with a lot of time to move up.
Obviously, I’m frustrated and wish I could have done a bit better. But we have something to work toward for the next race to see if we can improve a little bit the single-lap balance. Other than that, I’m happy with the balance for this race. There is a long time to go and anything can happen.”

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“We’ve been up at the pointy end of things since we got here. The difference from this time last year is astronomical. We are in a pretty good spot. I’d say we’re slightly better when it’s hotter.
The weather change hasn’t hindered us, but I think it’s brought some of the cars that are using the tires too much closer. The pack actually seems close together, which is nice for the racing. From our side, it’s been seamless the last three or four days. Coming back with Rui and Tom, it’s good that we all know the car, and we’ve all driven the car here.

You kind of get into the business end of the performance way earlier than you would expect. With that, we’ve been making some good steps forward. As always, I think long runs and tire deg are in our wheelhouse, so we should be in good shape.”

DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It has been straight-forward for us. Last year we were trying to understand the car and what we could do with it in certain scenarios. Now we are fully focused on performance, and that makes a massive difference.
Every season we have learned things about setup and trying to go forward. That is what makes such a difference from last year. We have a fully reliable GT3 car that we can push forward as a team.

“Hopes are high. The weather has changed quite a bit since the Prologue. The wind has picked up, and the aero sensitives are something that is tricky in the Corvette. It’s such a well-made GT3 car with a big aero platform, and that has set us back a little bit during free practice. We were a bit caught by surprise with how much the wind was affecting our performance in some of the corners.
We’re trying to assess those little issues and try to set up the car differently
we were in the Prologue, we were very confident, and now we need to find a way around some of those wind gusts that pick up in some high-speed corners. But we have a strong lineup, a strong GT3 Corvette and a strong team. I’m confident we can score big tomorrow.”

One of the two Z06 GT3.Rs was out of the race after about the first hour

Now with 1 1/2 hours to go the other Corvette is in the lead

Race win for LMGT3 honors was won by the No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R as Dani Juncadella fended off Gregoire Saucy’s United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo for a landmark victory.


Unlike last year’s inaugural running, the Qatar 1812km failed to go its full distance before hitting the ten-hour time limit, with 318 of the originally-scheduled 335 laps completed.

Daniel Juncadella says he is “very proud” of the defensive job he did to secure TF Sport’s first FIA World Endurance Championship victory with Corvette as he fended off the United Autosports McLaren of Gregoire Saucy in the Qatar 1812km.

The battle for LMGT3 class honors at the Lusail International Circuit boiled down to a straight duel between Juncadella in the No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R and Saucy in the No. 95 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, who ran nose to tail for much of the final hour.

Despite Saucy appearing to have a pace advantage in the closing stages, Juncadella was able to hang on to the win by just 0.493 seconds in the car he shares with his two new teammates for 2025, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating.

“These are the situations that you prepare for, that you work your ass off in the gym for, that you see the psychologist for, that are make-or-break, where you know you don’t have the pace of the car behind, and you have to keep him behind,” Juncadella said.

“It feels great now to have done it. Because it’s a hard track to pass, I knew he would struggle following me, but he was super-quick, and he had a couple of chances.
“I’m an experienced guy so when the time comes I know how to defend and where to place myself, I was not nervous about that situation. I’m very proud of how I managed it.”

Juncadella’s job was made even harder by the fact that he only had fresh tires on the left-hand side for the final stint, with Saucy quickly closing in again on the Corvette driver after losing ground with a longer final stop.
“On the right side we had the qualifying tires, which were a bit older, so in all the left-hand corners we were losing a lot compared to him,” he explained.

“Especially Turn 10 [Saucy] was very quick and almost coming alongside me at the end of sector two.
But still you know your job in that scenario, you have to focus on yourself, hit your marks, make no mistakes.
“It was longer than I would have hoped. I don’t recall a race where I’ve been in the lead and had to hold it for so long.”

Juncadella added that he took inspiration from his drive aboard the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG at Motul Petit Le Mans two years ago, when he was forced to defend from the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche of Kevin Estre for much of the final hour.

“That was one of my proudest races,” he recalled. “I was just thinking about that scenario: I did that two years ago to win the race, and I did it again here.”
For his part, Saucy admitted that his lack of GT experience may have been a decisive factor in his battle with Juncadella, as he secured the runner-up spot in the No. 95 car he shares with James Cottingham and Sebastien Baud.

“I did my maximum,” said the Swiss driver. “I was faster, but [Juncadella] was really, really strong in front of me. Always where I had the possibility to overtake him, he was always really, really strong. So it was really difficult to overtake him.

“We know he’s a very strong driver, also it’s only my second year in GTs, so I still need to understand more with the GT.
So maybe in the future I can be faster than him.

“There is not so much [tire] deg [at Lusail]. If there was more deg, it would have been a bit easier because there is some possibility.
“But as there was a minimum gap [in terms of pace] between each other, it was really difficult to overtake him.”