The Porsche tries to break away as we reach the end of the fourth hour of the 1812 Km of Qatar, the first event of the 2024 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Among the Hypercars, the official 963 #6 of Team Penske jumped into the lead after the first two rounds of pit stops and has currently gained about thirty seconds over the Peugeot #93, which is trying to stay on the podium chased by the other Porsches, the official #5 and Jota's private #12.
At 15″ from the golden 963 there is a nice duel between Toyota and Ferrari for the Top5, with the GR010 Hybrid #7 which took advantage of some lappings and overtook the yellow #83 of AF Corse, currently the best of the 499Ps after the Drive Through discounted by the #50 (now 11th) and the accident with a McLaren GT3 of the #51 (in 17th place) which tore off its rear wing.
Robert Shwartzman then responded to Kamui Kobayashi by regaining his position, while behind them there is Jota's Porsche #38 which has lost ground compared to the other 963s, and the Peugeot #94.
Rounding out the Top 10 are the #8 Cadillac and Toyota. The Alpines are 12th and 16th, divided by the BMWs and the #99 Proton Competition Porsche.
Still at the bottom of the ranking, considering their work, are the Lamborghini SC63 and the Isotta Fraschini, which despite managing to gradually obtain good times from its rookie drivers also loses time due to two penalties (90″ for speeding in the pit lane and 200″ for an infringement technique).
#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen, leads at the start
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
In Class LMGT3 the Porsches of Manthey Pure Rxcing #92 and Manthey EMA #91 managed to get ahead of everyone, but while the former is on the run like its cousin LMDh (which it gave a half-fright in turn 1 during dubbing), the second was overtaken after the fourth pit stop by the Aston Martin #27 of Heart of Racing with Daniel Mancinelli on top.
The Ferrari 296 #54 of Vista AF Corse is a little further behind and with Davide Rigon tries to regain the podium, pulling behind the Aston Martin #777 of D'Station Racing which made a good comeback.
Sixth place for the BMW #31 of Team WRT with the Ferrari #55 of Vista AF Corse behind, while Valentino Rossi has now climbed onto the M4 #46, making his debut in the series, occupying eighth position, 5″ behind the 296.
The Lamborghini #85 of the Iron Dames still remains in the Top10 (with a Drive-Through paid for track-limits), followed by the Lexus #78 of Akkodis-ASP and the McLaren #95 of United Autosports.
The Corvettes, on the other hand, are encountering problems because they both had a Drive Through due to track limits being exceeded too many times and the #81 also had an electronic problem with the gearbox, dropping to the rear and returning to the pits.
Proton's Ford Mustangs remain in 14th and 15th position with a higher pace than their rivals.
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