WEC News: Ferrari 1-2-3 in damp Qatar practice 3
The Ferrari trio of 499P Hypercars topped the times at the Lusail International Circuit this afternoon in the final WEC practice session before Qualifying, which was held in overcast, damp conditions.
Session Highlights
WEC Hypercar
Ferrari 499P Hypercars placed 1-2-3 in final free practice session in readiness for tomorrows opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship round at the Qatar 1812km
The No.50 Ferrari AF Corse entry headed the No.51 and No.83 cars in 60-minute session that was held in cool and cloudy conditions, with a small amount of rain falling throughout the session
Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Giovinazzi set the times for the factory Ferraris with Nielsen peaking on a 1m39.484s. That lap out-paced Giovinazzi’s by a mere 0.081s, while Robert Kubica was a further 0.4s off Nielsen’s lap time.
The best non-Ferraris were the pair of Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA cars as the No.38 lead the No.12 for fourth and fifth places in the classification
Sebastien Bourdais and Alex Lynn achieved the times of 1m40.017s and 1m40.427s respectively in the gold liveried Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars
Peugeot placed sixth and seventh with their 9X8 Hypercars as the No.93 lapped 0.28s faster with Jean-Eric Vergne just beating stable mate Stoffel Vandoorne
BMW M Team WRT ended the session in eighth as the No.20 car with Robin Frijns aboard the BMW M Hybrid V8 Hypercar
the 2024 drivers’ championship winning No.6 Porsche 963 run by Porsche Penske Motorsport places ninth with time is set by Matt Campbell.
The Top 10 was completed by the second of the BMW’s as Dries Vanthoor sets a late lap in No.15 to just knock out the new 6.5-litre V12 powered non-hybrid No.009 Aston Martin THOR team Valkyrie
WEC LMGT3
United Autosports tops free practice for the second consecutive session at the Losail International Circuit as the No.95 McLaren LMGT3 posts quickest time of 1m54.569
Sean Gelael again sets the time in the McLaren he shares with Darren Leung and Marino Sato. Indonesian driver’s early session 1m54.569s best is 0.0.092s ahead of the opposition
As per yesterday’s FP2 session the No.78 Akkodis ASP Lexus is second, although this time it is WEC rookie Finn Gehrsitz who sets the best time
McLaren also place third as the No.59 United Autosport run car sets a lap of 1m54.738s via Gregoire Saucy who begins his second season with the team
Charlie Eastwood leaves it late in the No.81 TF Sport Corvette as he posts a 1m55.018s lap to claim fourth place in LMGT3
Akkodis ASP place fifth position as the No.87 challenger with Clemens Schmid sets a peak lap time of 1m55.215s
The top six is completed by the No.54 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari 296LMGT3 with Francesco Castellacci at the wheel
Reigning champions Manthey continue to struggle for outright pace as the 1st Phorm car places 16th just ahead of the Iron Dames entry which is also run by the famed German team