WEC Qatar: The opening round awaits

Boosted by victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona last month, the team is highly motivated for the eight-round calendar, kicking off on 2 March with a ten-hour, 1812 km / 1125.93 miles race at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. Having already undertaken two days of testing in Qatar and the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, the team ventures to the Middle East this weekend for the Prologue, the two-day official pre-season tests. Like last year, the works team will field two Porsche 963s in the top Hypercar class, while the Hertz Team Jota and Proton Competition customer teams have three more entries. The championship features a modified class structure this season, with just two classes. The LMP2 category has been removed, but will return for a one-off outing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, while the GTE-Am class has also been removed. It will be replaced by LMGT3, with Porsche’s experienced customer team Manthey flying the brand’s flag with the 911 GT3 R. There will also be a revamped qualifying format, adapting the “Hyperpole” familiar from Le Mans. From the season opener, the time trials in both classes will be divided into two sessions. In the first twelve-minute session, all cars in a category head out onto the track at the same time. The ten fastest cars in each of these short qualifying sessions will then compete for the best grid positions for the race in a ten-minute “Hyperpole” session. Heading into the team’s second WEC season, Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport, said: “Our victory at the season opener of the IMSA series in Daytona has given our entire team on both sides of the Atlantic a huge boost. We’re trying to take this momentum into the new year of the FIA WEC. A lot is new in 2024: we have additional cars in the Hypercar class, we’ll be up against new rivals in the battle for overall victories and we’ll see Manthey’s WEC comeback with the 911 GT3 R in the new LMGT3 class. There are plenty of reasons to be excited for the first event in Qatar.”

The works Hypercars

Each of the Porsche Penske Motorsport cars will again be driven by three works drivers in the 2024 season.

Frenchman Frédéric Makowiecki and Dane Michael Christensen will share the wheel of the No. 5 car with Matt Campbell. The Australian, who won the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, has swapped his regular IMSA seat with the American Dane Cameron. The No. 6 car will be helmed by the same driver trio as the previous season: Kévin Estre from France and Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium will share the cockpit with André Lotterer from Germany. The team’s structure has been adapted for the upcoming season, with Jan Lange taking the role of team principal and general manager. Urs Kuratle, Director, Factory Motorsport LMDh, said: “The triumph in Daytona underlined some very important things for us: The team worked perfectly from an operational standpoint, and the Porsche 963 was fast and reliable over the 24 hours. Our work during the past season and over the winter is obviously yielding the results we had hoped for. The team and car will be put to the test again in the first WEC race of the season in Qatar. It’ll take place at a new venue and run over ten hours. We have to be just as focused and determined as we were in Daytona. Our test drives on the track in Doha went well. Nevertheless, we haven’t yet seen what we’re up against in 2024. I’m curious to see what that’ll look like.”

The customer Hypercars

In the Hypercar class, Hertz Team Jota competes with two Porsche 963 for the first time. British drivers Will Stevens and Callum Illott will share the cockpit of the No. 12 car with Frenchman Norman Nato.

The sister car is helmed by 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button, who will alternate behind the wheel of the No. 38 with Oliver Rasmussen and Phil Hanson. The identical hybrid prototype from Proton Competition with the starting number 99 will be driven by Swiss driver Neel Jani and Briton Harry Tincknell together with former Porsche Junior Julien Andlauer.

LMGT3

In the new LMGT3 category, two Porsche 911 GT3 R will go up against a total of 18 race cars from nine different manufacturers. Manthey is celebrating its comeback to the world championship stage in the new LMGT3 class, fielding two 911 GT3 R. Works driver Richard Lietz will line up on the grid with Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin in the No. 91 car decked out in the Manthey EMA livery, while Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm will race the No. 92 car representing Manthey PureRxcing.

The schedule (local time, CET +2)