It was a tough outing for Porsche Penske Motorsport at the Qatar 1812km, with both cars struggling for pace at the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener.
After a difficult weekend, the top-finishing factory car was the #5 Porsche 963, shared by Julien Andlauer, Michael Christensen and Mathieu Jaminet, in 10th.
The #6 Porsche 963 driven by Matt Campbell, Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor was 11th after the 10-hour race at Lusail International Circuit.
Despite some fierce battles, the much-interrupted race saw both cars suffer unlucky issues, and they were unable to progress into the top positions.
The #99 Proton Competition car shared by Neel Jani, Nicolas Pino and Nicolás Varrone was in 15th as the sole customer Porsche 963.
In the LMGT3 class, the Manthey 1st Phorm #92 car of Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera were 12th, ahead of the Iron Dames #85 Porsche driven by Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Célia Martin in 13th.
Story of the race
After a tough qualifying on Thursday which saw both cars narrowly miss out on Hyperpole, the two factory entries lined up in 11th (#5) and 13th (#6).
The #6, with Vanthoor at the wheel, immediately set about trying to make progress, battling the #8 Toyota for 13th, but it was a difficult start for the #5 car driven by Andlauer as it was forced to pit on lap 15 with a slow puncture on the front right tyre.
After the first full course yellow, the #6 continued its fight, this time trying to pass the #94 Peugeot, which was in 11th.
However, bad luck struck again on lap 34, with the #6 forced to undergo minor bodywork repairs on its routine stop.
Ahead, the #5 car had made good progress and was running in fourth, although it was running out-of-sync with the rest of the field due to the early additional stop.
Driver changes came at the next pit stop, with Campbell and Jaminet next in the cars before another virtual safety car shortly before hour two.
Unlucky timing of a pitstop saw the #6 car drop off the leading lap, running in 14th, as it did not get a pass around under the fourth safety car, while the #5 car ran ahead in eighth.
The middle stages of the race were much interrupted, with another virtual safety car, and the #5 stopping to fix a rear damper element.
Heading into hour eight, the #5 car was embroiled in a fierce battle with the #94 Peugeot, with Christensen putting in a brilliant stint in his fight to pass the car ahead.
The pair made contact at one point, the Peugeot tapping the rear of the Porsche as it had passed, but Christensen held on despite the rear almost heading into a spin. He finally made it past into 10th with the switch back at Turn 7.
After the final stops, the #5 remained in 10th, with the #6 behind in 11th.
Customer racing
The #99 Proton Competition entry started the season opener in 16th, returning for 2025 with a refreshed line-up as Pino and Varrone joined Jani in the car.
Boosted two places in the early stages after two cars ahead collided, the team suffered an unfortunate setback after running wide and causing damage to the rear of the car.
After a pitstop to replace the rear body work, the team came back out in 15th, where they went on to finish the race.
LMGT3
It was a challenging weekend for Manthey Racing, with its refreshed liveries for 2025.
The #92 Manthey 1st Phorm car started in 11th, ahead of the Iron Dames #85 Porsche in 15th.
Stopping for the first time on lap 27 amid a chaotic opening stage, the #85 car suffered a setback soon after, receiving a drive-through penalty for breaching the full course yellow procedure.
Staying in the fight, both cars continued their battle towards the points, with the #92 running in 13th ahead of the sister entry after three hours.
Though the #92 made it inside the top 10 late on, several safety cars and a tricky late stage halted its progress to finish in 12th, with the #85 car 13th.
Bouncing back
After a tough outing in Qatar, the team will now refocus its efforts to bounce back stronger next time out.
The FIA WEC returns with the 6 Hours of Imola on April 20 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
