The third and concluding free practice session of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Qatar 1812 km season-opener saw Antonio Fuoco triumphantly leading the pack. The hour-long FP3 session was staged under slightly damp conditions at the Lusail International Circuit, but it did little to deter the racers or warrant the use of wet tyre compounds from Michelin and Goodyear.
As the session unfolded, the rain led to a gradual decline in lap times, as expected. The Ferrari works Hypercars emerged dominating the session, with the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hypercar, a privateer-entered vehicle, trailing behind. The session was largely uneventful and was briefly punctuated by Ben Keating’s off-track detour into a gravel trap in his #33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R, just 42 minutes into FP3. The disruption led to a brief full course yellow that lasted five minutes, allowing officials to bring Keating back on track before resuming the race.
In the Hypercar division, Fuoco stood out with a record lap time of 1:39.484 in the #50 Ferrari, closely followed by the #51 Ferrari in P2, trailing by just 0.081 seconds. Antonio Giovinazzi clocked 1:39.565 in the #51 Ferrari, securing the second position, and Robert Kubica followed with 1:39.565 in the #83 Ferrari. The fourth and fifth positions were clinched by the JOTA Cadillac V-Series.Rs, with Sebastien Bourdais registering a fastest time of 1:40.017 in the #38, while Alex Lynn set 1:40.427 in the #12.
The #93 Peugeot 9X8, with Jean-Eric Vergne behind the wheel, clocked 1:40.653, positioning itself in the sixth place, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne’s sibling #94 Peugeot’s 1:40.947. Robin Frijns put the #20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 in the eighth spot with a 1:41.593, while Matt Campbell’s #6 Porsche Penske 963 finished ninth with a 1:41.702. Rounding out the top-10 was the #20 WRT BMW, thanks to Dries Vanthoor’s commendable 1:41.755 lap time.
Shifting focus to the LMGT3 category, Sean Gelael emerged as the quickest driver in Qatar. He accomplished a fastest lap time of 1:54.569 in the #95 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo, marginally edging out Finn Gehristz in the #78 ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3 who clocked 1:54.661. Gregoire Saucy’s 1:54.738 time in the #59 McLaren earned him the third place, followed by the fourth-placed #81 TF Sport Corvette. Charlie Eastwood registered a remarkable time of 1:55.018 for the #81 Corvette, while Clemens Schmid rounded out the top-five with 1:55.215 in the #87 Lexus.
Francesco Castellacci’s 1:55.221 in the AF Corse’s #54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 secured a sixth position, ahead of Eduardo Barrichello’s 1:55.279 for Racing Spirit of LeMan’s #10 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 EVO. Wrapping up the top-10 were the #21 AF Corse Ferrari (1:55.348), #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin (1:55.760), and the #46 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO (1:55.856).
The qualifying round is set to take place from 17:00 local time or 14:00 UTC. As the anticipation builds, we look forward to witnessing more incredible performances in the race.
