HERTZ Team Jota Porsche set the fastest times with just nine cars participating in the first session of the rescheduled WEC Qatar pre-season Prologue test.
The #12 Porsche 963 of HERTZ Team JOTA set the fastest time in the first three-hour session of the delayed 2024 FIA WEC Qatar pre-season Prologue test as Norman Nato set the pace with the fastest performance of 1:41.822 during his 29 laps in the car.
Three quiet hours of running went by according to plan after it came to pass that all teams would have the option of participating in the opening session today or the fourth session tomorrow due to the changes made to the schedule and the delays brought on by the freight complications last week.
Consequently, out of the 37 cars that decided to participate in the first session, only 10 of them participated in Monday’s opening session of the Qatar Prologue pre-season test while only 9 managed to finish.
Only Hertz Team JOTA and Isotta Fraschini got into action in the Hypercar class, while United Autosports, TF Sport, and Iron Lynx were among the three LMGT3 teams who opted to get early track experience.
The #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P was the car that didn’t have a recorded lap time but was anticipated to head out.
With approximately 42 minutes remaining, Norman Nato driving the team’s No. 12 car set a time benchmark of 1:41.822, putting the JOTA Porsche 963 at the top of the time charts.
This was in contrast to a time of 1:43.206 produced by Jenson Button in the sister No. 38 car and a time of 1:45.928 by Jean-Karl Vernay in the No. 11 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competizione.
The #12 car completed the most laps—61—among the three Hypercars. In contrast, Isotta could only make 22 laps. The team decided to do a thorough systems check when the car detected a gearbox warning and after about forty minutes in the garage, it made a return to the track in the last hour.
Owner of the Duqueine team Gilles Duqueine said that he was pleasantly surprised by Jean-Karl Vernay’s best time during the session as the team had not yet finished any setup work.
Six vehicles participated in LMGT3 including the TF Sport Corvettes, United Autosports McLarens, and Lamborghinis from Iron Lynx and Iron Dames setting the pace. This came after the aforementioned teams arrived at the circuit on schedule last week.
The #59 McLaren 720S LMGT3 EVO from United was the fastest of the six as Brazilian driver Nicolas Costa set the fastest time in his first outing with the squad recording a 1:56.583 during the car’s 57-lap run at the Lusail circuit.
However, the #59 completed the fewest laps overall as the #82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R finished the most laps at 79, in a fit of rage. The British team, who were testing their Z06s for the first time, completed 132 laps with both of their cars, so it was an immensely important session.
In second place, its #81 Corvette was also quick, finishing a tenth of a second slower than Costa. The #95 United McLaren finished third having completed the fewest laps at 39.
The second session of testing will take place this evening at 18:00 with a 300-minute open test that goes late into the night.
