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Autosport

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WEC Qatar: Campbell puts Porsche top in opening practice

Porsche WEC Matt Campbell Ferrari James Calado Lamborghini McLaren Peugeot AF Corse BMW

Matt Campbell was fastest in the #5 factory Porsche 963 LMDh in the 90-minute session as the German manufacturer maintained its monopoly of top spot in the timesheets at the Losail International Circuit since the start of the two-day pre-season test on Monday.

The Australian posted a 1m42.486s to end up fastest, though Ferrari diver James Calado ran him close after a series of improvements late in the session.

Calado jumped from third to second in the times with a 1m42.561s in the #51 Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar to demote the second Porsche Penske Motorsport entry driven by Kevin Estre.

The Briton improved again to a 1m42.532s to end up less than five hundredths down on the Porsche in top spot.

Estre’s 1m42.695s was still good enough for third in the final FP1 classification ahead of Alex Lynn in the Ganassi-run Cadillac V-Series.R.

The Caddy driver improved to 1m42.962s as the clock counted down towards the end of the session.

The times were significantly slower than the best from the Prologue.

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi (Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images)

Campbell’s best was two seconds shy of Frederic Makowiecki’s 1m40.404s set on Tuesday afternoon.

Track temperatures were higher than on Tuesday, while the circuit was also afflicted by high winds.

The customer Porsches fielded in the WEC by the Proton and Jota teams took positions five to seven.

Harry Tincknell claimed fifth in the Proton car with a 1m43.026s, Jenson Button sixth in the #38 Jota entry on a 1m43.099s and Callum Ilott seventh in #12 on a 1m43.128s.

Kamui Kobayashi’s jumped to eighth with 1m43.202s at the end of the session aboard the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH.

Antonio Fuoco took ninth aboard the second AF Corse-run factory Ferrari, while Loic Duval rounded out the top 10 in the best of the Peugeot 9X8 LMHs.

#95 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo: Joshua Caygill, Nicolás Pino, Marino Sato (Photo by: Erik Junius)

The new LMGT3 class was led by the #95 United Autosport’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo in which Nico Pino posted a 1m55.824s.

The two AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3s took second and third positions, Alessio Rovera’s 1m55.983 edging out the 1m56.069s from Davide Rigon.

The Prodrive/AMR-run Heart of Racing and D’station Aston Martin Vantages took fourth and fifth positions in the hands of David Mancinelli and Erwan Bastard respectively.

The session was red-flagged three minutes early when Raffaele Marciello spun off in the #15 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh and got beached in the gravel trap.

There were two previous reds, one caused by an IT issue in race control and the other when a photographer strayed into a dangerous area.

WEC Qatar - FP1 results

1 - 2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	M. Campbell M. Christensen F. Makowiecki	Porsche 963	39	1'42.486		188.981
2	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	45	+0.046 1'42.532	0.046	188.897
3	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	6	K. Estre A. Lotterer L. Vanthoor	Porsche 963	40	+0.107 1'42.593	0.061	188.784
4	CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR	2	E. Bamber A. Lynn S. Bourdais	Cadillac V-Series.R	40	+0.476 1'42.962	0.369	188.108
5	Proton Competition HYPERCAR	99	H. Tincknell N. Jani J. Andlauer	Porsche 963	32	+0.540 1'43.026	0.064	187.991
6	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	38	J. Button P. Hanson O. Rasmussen	Porsche 963	38	+0.613 1'43.099	0.073	187.858
7	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	12	W. Stevens C. Ilott N. Nato	Porsche 963	39	+0.642 1'43.128	0.029	187.805
8	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	M. Conway K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	31	+0.716 1'43.202	0.074	187.670
9	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	40	+0.909 1'43.395	0.193	187.320
10	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	P. di Resta L. Duval S. Vandoorne	Peugeot 9X8	39	+0.928 1'43.414	0.019	187.286
11	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica R. Shwartzman Y. Yifei	Ferrari 499P	43	+1.014 1'43.500	0.086	187.130
12	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	44	+1.041 1'43.527	0.027	187.081
13	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	M. Jensen N. Müller J. Vergne	Peugeot 9X8	37	+1.059 1'43.545	0.018	187.049
14	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	S. Van Der Linde R. Frijns R. Rast	BMW M Hybrid V8	38	+1.139 1'43.625	0.080	186.904
15	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	N. Lapierre M. Schumacher M. Vaxiviere	Alpine A424	42	+1.357 1'43.843	0.218	186.512
16	Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR	63	M. Bortolotti E. Mortara D. Kvyat	Lamborghini SC63	40	+1.462 1'43.948	0.105	186.323
17	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	D. Vanthoor R. Marciello M. Wittmann	BMW M Hybrid V8	36	+1.489 1'43.975	0.027	186.275
18	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	P. Chatin F. Habsburg C. Milesi	Alpine A424	43	+1.498 1'43.984	0.009	186.259
19	Isotta Fraschini HYPERCAR	11	A. Serravalle C. Bennett J. Vernay	Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C	30	+1.840 1'44.326	0.342	185.648
20	United Autosports LMGT3	95	J. Caygill N. Pino M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	35	+13.338 1'55.824	11.498	167.219
21	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	55	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	37	+13.497 1'55.983	0.159	166.989
22	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	36	+13.583 1'56.069	0.086	166.866
23	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James D. Mancinelli A. Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	33	+13.639 1'56.125	0.056	166.785
24	D'Station Racing LMGT3	777	C. Mateu E. Bastard M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	38	+13.816 1'56.302	0.177	166.531
25	TEAM WRT LMGT3	31	D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3	35	+13.840 1'56.326	0.024	166.497
26	TEAM WRT LMGT3	46	A. Al Harthy V. Rossi M. Martin	BMW M4 GT3	37	+13.928 1'56.414	0.088	166.371
27	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham N. Costa G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	36	+13.955 1'56.441	0.027	166.333
28	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Van Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	37	+13.991 1'56.477	0.036	166.281
29	TF Sport LMGT3	82	H. Koizumi S. Baud D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	36	+14.352 1'56.838	0.361	165.767
30	Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3	92	A. Malykhin J. Sturm K. Bachler	Porsche 911 GT3 R	34	+14.371 1'56.857	0.019	165.741
31	IRON LYNX LMGT3	60	C. Schiavoni M. Cressoni F. Perera	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	33	+14.428 1'56.914	0.057	165.660
32	IRON DAMES LMGT3	85	S. Bovy D. Pin M. Gatting	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	27	+14.458 1'56.944	0.030	165.617
33	Manthey EMA LMGT3	91	Y. Shahin M. Schuring R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	35	+14.477 1'56.963	0.019	165.590
34	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	R. Hardwick Z. Robichon B. Barker	Ford Mustang GT3	29	+14.584 1'57.070	0.107	165.439
35	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	G. Roda M. Pedersen D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	33	+14.618 1'57.104	0.034	165.391
36	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	T. Kimura E. Masson J. Lopez	Lexus RC F GT3	30	+14.660 1'57.146	0.042	165.332
37	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	78	A. Robin T. Boguslavskiy K. van der Linde	Lexus RC F GT3	30	+15.115 1'57.601	0.455	164.692
View full results