WEC: Porsche unbeaten in first two free practice sessions in Qatar

Sport news Free Practice 1 Porsche Penske placed 1-2 for the majority of the 90-minute first session of the day. Matt Campbell managed to set a 1:42.486s in the #5 963 Hybrid and led the sister #6 entry by 0.209s. Laurens Vanthoor set time in #6 on 1:42.593 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 #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P pushed up in to second position with a time of 1m42.561, just 0.075 off Campbell’s best. Nicolas Pino in the #95 McLaren 720S entered by United Autosports led the 18-car LMGT3 field. His 1:55.824s best was just over 0.1s clear of the #55 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3, with the stablemate #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. Free Practice 2 Porsche maintained the advantage in the second session of the day as Kevin Estre became the first driver to go under the 100-second barrier with a fastest lap of 1:39.900s. The #6 Porsche Penske 963 Hybrid Hypercar led the chasing packs by 0.782s from the #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8. Jean-Eric Vergne set best time of 1:40.772s. Hertz Team JOTA grabbed the third position as Jenson Button lapped in 1:40.782s to maintain the impressive pace for the Porsche customer team. Cadillac made it three manufacturers in the top four as Alex Lynn posted a 1:40.986s lap in the navy blue Cadillac V.Series R. Vista AF Corse took a 1-2 formation at the top LMGT3 class, with the #55 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 heading the #54 machine by just under 0.3s Simon Mann (1:55.190) and Francesco Castellacci (1:55.445) set the times as the Prancing Horse continues its consistently quick times in Qatar Team WRT placed third with the #31 M4 LMGT3 car, as Sean Gelael made progress up the pecking order. World Endurance Championship WEC Endurance WEC SEASON 2024 Sport Circuit 1SportWorld Endurance ChampionshipCircuitWECSEASON 2024WECEndurance01 Thursday, February 29, 2024 - 7:03pm Thursday, February 29, 2024 - 7:03pm