Kevin Estre (FRA) / Andre Lotterer (GER) / Laurens Vanthoor (BEL) #06 Porsche Penske Motorsport, Porsche 963.
26-27.02.2024. FIA World Endurance Championship, Official Prologue, Doha, Qatar.
Kevin Estre, from Porsche Penske Motorsport, set the fastest lap time in the second free practice session for the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Qatar. The Hypercars remained close to each other, with all cars within a two-second difference. Porsche showed a strong performance with their factory cars and those entered by customers. Estre’s impressive lap time was a result of teams conducting longer runs to prepare for tire management in the upcoming race. Three of the top five Hypercars were Porsche 963s, and the order of the top five was separated by small margins.
During the session, Jean-Karl Vernay from Isotta Fraschini got stuck in the gravel trap, resulting in a red flag and a temporary interruption in the session. Porsche Penske maintained their strong pace from the first practice session, with Kevin Estre being the only driver to go below the 1 minute and 40 seconds per lap barrier. A yellow flag period was later deployed in the session to remove debris from the track. Despite some incidents, Estre’s time of 1:39.990 remained the fastest, followed by Jean-Eric Vergne in the #93 Peugeot 9X8.
Jenson Button secured third place in the #38 JOTA Porsche 963, with Alex Lynn and Matt Campbell securing fourth and fifth place, respectively. Isotta Fraschini did not complete any more laps after their earlier incident, making the next FP3 session their last opportunity for more laps before qualifying.
In the LMGT3 category, D’station Racing, United Autosports, and AF Corse showcased their speed and gained valuable track time before qualifying. MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi briefly occupied third place in the #46 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3. However, track limit violations resulted in penalties for Sebastien Baud in the #82 Corvette Z06 and Takeshi Kimura in the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F. AF Corse secured a one-two finish, with Simon Mann setting the fastest lap time in car #55.
FP3 will continue tomorrow morning, providing another opportunity for teams to fine-tune their performance before the race.
