FP1 Report: Porsche sets the pace; LMGT3 sees McLaren on top from Ferrari

Hypercar

• Porsche Penske placed 1-2 for the majority of the 90-minute free practice session of the day at the 2024 Qatar Airways Qatar 1812kms
• Matt Campbell sets a 1m42.486s in the No.5 Porsche Penske 963 Hybrid Hypercar and led the sister No.6 Porsche by 0.209s. Laurens Vanthoor sets time in No.6 on 1m42.593 to place third at the chequered flag.
• Porsche had swept the top positions with five cars in the top six positions but a late flyer from James Calado sees the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P push up in to second position with a time of 1m42.561, just 0.075 off Campbell’s best
• Alex Lynn sets a series of late fast laps in the No.2 Cadillac V.Series R to take fourth place for the American entry
• Proton Competition place fifth as Harry Tincknell peaks with a 1m43.026s best in car he shares with Neel Jani and Julien Andlauer
• Hertz Team JOTA complete end up in sixth and seventh position with the No.38 963 heading the No.12 entered car. British duo Calum IIlott and Jenson Button set the times respectively
• A 1m43.287s lap by Jean-Eric Vergne is good enough for good enough for P8 as the ‘Lions’ enter its last race with the present configuration of the Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar
• The No.50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P, with Antonio Fuoco stopping the clocks on a 1m43.395, places ninth.
• The all-new No.83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P sits 10th as Robert Kubica marks his Hypercar debut event with a 1m43.500s best in car he shares with Robert Shwartzmann and Yifei Ye
• The fastest Toyota is the reigning champion car of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa which rounds out the top ten after Hartley sets a time just over a second away from the ultimate pace

It has started!

The first Free Practice 1 session of the 2024 #WEC is underway at @lusailcircuit.

Follow the live-timing on https://t.co/IPZa0nvsLu#Qatar1812KM pic.twitter.com/FDadwpJX8Y

— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) February 29, 2024

LMGT3

• United Autosports McLaren continues impressive form in the LMGT3 category as the No.95 McLaren 720S driven by Nicolas Pino leads the 18 car field
• Pino’s 1m55.824s best is just over 0.1s clear of the No.55 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3, with the stablemate No.54 in third place at the end of the session
• Davide Rigon and Alessio Rovera set the times for the Prancing Horse with the top three covered by just 0.21s
• Aston Martin are fourth as the Heart of Racing Vantage peaks with a 1m56.125s courtesy of Daniel Mancinelli
• D’Station make it two Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 cars in the top four as Erwan Bastars sets a best time of 1m56.302s as he readies to make his WEC debut alongside Marco Sorensen and Clement Mateu this Saturday
• Completing the top six is the No.31 Team WRT BMW M4 with Augusto Farfus registering the fastest lap

The second free practice session at Losail International Circuit is scheduled for 17h30 local time this evening

Click HERE for full results from FP1