Gianmaria Bruni from Italy, Harry Tincknell from Great Britain, and Julien Andlauer from France formed the team for the Proton Competition Porsche 963 #99 in the FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue test and the opening 1812 km of the Qatar. According to Harry Tincknell, they considered it a week of learning. The trio finished 10th in the first race of the 2024 season. Tincknell reflected on the race week, which was preceded by two days of delayed pre-season testing. He mentioned that many things were new and unknown, but having Julien Andlauer on the team helped to have a smooth teamwork. Although their race pace was great at times, they aim to maintain consistency.
During the Prologue analysis, the average lap time of the Proton Competition was the lowest among all Porsche participants, including factory and customer Hypercars. Before the season, Proton made a small change to its WEC driver lineup, replacing Gianmaria Bruni with Julien Andlauer. The Porsche 963 package showed strong performance at the Losail International Circuit, new to the WEC, with all five 963s occupying the top five positions during the race. However, the Proton Competition #99 Porsche, along with the #38 JOTA, couldn’t keep up with the factory cars’ performance throughout the nearly 10-hour race. This highlighted the importance of tire management and consistent race pace.
Julien Andlauer made his debut in the category after spending several years as a driver in the former GTE Dempsey-Proton collaboration in Porsche 911 RSR machines. He first competed in an LMP2 car in Proton’s campaign in the Asian Le Mans Series 2023-24. The 24-year-old Frenchman qualified in 13th place with a time of 1:40.675, while the 2016 champion, Neel Jani, started the race in car #99 in an intense start. They used the reliable 963 to challenge their rivals in the early hours, although their pace could not be maintained throughout the race. Andlauer’s lap time of 1:41.414 on lap 154 was comparable to the other factory cars, surpassing his teammates who were likely affected by tire management. In the end, the team finished in 11th place on track, which was later promoted to 10th place after the disqualification of Peugeot #93.
