The inaugural FIA WEC race for the LMGT3 class wasn’t quite the door-banging thriller that many of the teams expected before the lights went out, but it generated plenty of talking points after nine hours and 55 minutes of racing in Qatar.
The No. 92 Manthey Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 LMGT3 R 992 came across the line first after an engrossing battle with the Heart of Racing Aston Martin, adding to Porsche’s perfect day (along with the overall podium sweep). Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler were masterful and constructed a fault-free performance in the Lithuanian team’s FIA WEC debut.
The performance continued the team’s title-winning form from the Asian Le Mans Series over the winter and handed it an early championship lead heading into the European rounds of the championship. It also adds to the team’s remarkable journey since making its GT3 race debut in January 2023.
“It was tough. I’m really tired, but it was a fantastic result for us,” Bachler said after the race, in which Pure Rxcing became the first Lithuanian outfit to win in the WEC. “It was all about what Alex (Malykhin) did at the beginning with his pace. He is really strong for his category; he works so hard. We prepared ourselves in Asia and drove well together.
“We stayed out of trouble; we didn’t get penalties.”
The Porsche win should take nothing away from the Heart of Racing team, which powered to a well-earned podium for the 2024 Vantage AMR LMGT3 in its WEC debut and just its second race globally.
Ian James set up the run to second, completing his drive time early before Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas completed the task, coming home just 4.8s behind the winning Porsche.
Third and a lap down from the top two winning Porsche was the No. 777 D’Station Aston Martin. The Japanese team’s new-look lineup delivered the goods and made it a double podium for the British brand.
The No. 777’s run in the closing stages with Marco Sorensen aboard denied the No. 46 WRT BMW M4 GT3 — and consequently MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi — a podium finish.
This was a race that ran almost entirely green, with no major incidents. As a result, the key to victory became the strategy surrounding Bronze driver time. Once they all completed their minimum time behind the wheel, the pecking order became clearer.
There were major differences in strategy as some teams opted to get it done quickly, while others rested their amateurs until the second half of the race. It played a part in preventing the race from becoming an out-and-out thriller, because the field ended up spread out after a few hours and only a handful of cars finished on the same lap.
Heart of Racing and the No. 46 BMW’s strong results were set up by iron-man efforts from Ian James and Ahmad Al Harthy early in the race. The pair were the first of the Bronze drivers to complete their mandatory time, allowing the pro drivers in their cars to fight their way to the finish.
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Al Harthy’s 3h22m stint during the hottest part of the day was perhaps the most impressive. The Omani driver in his WRT debut stayed in the car for a full fourth stint, significantly longer than necessary.
“We had an option to keep me in the car for my entire driving time. They kept asking me how I was feeling,” he said. “I told them if it works for the strategy I will stay in.
“45m in I found out I had no water,” he added. “It was tough. Luckily I had pit stops when I could drink, but I was just motivated to do the best job for my team.”
Behind the No. 46, the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 — which spent a period of the race in the lead — took fifth, ahead of the No. 31 WRT BMW that finished 1m7s adrift in sixth.
Much attention was paid to the six new-for-2024 GT3 cars in the field this week, and the results were mixed across the entries from TF Sport, Heart of Racing, D’Station Racing and Proton Competition.
The clear standout once the race got underway was the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3. D’Station and Heart of Racing’s cars looked quick throughout and suffered no mechanical issues, making for a memorable debut for the car on the world stage.
The Corvettes and Fords, on the other hand, struggled to leave a strong first impression.
TF Sport turned heads by taking pole position with the Z06 LMGT3.R. But its level of optimism wouldn’t last long as the Hyperpole pace-setting No. 81 quickly lost the lead to the Pure Rxcing Porsche and eventually ran into a number of mechanical problems.
The first was a shifter issue that saw the car grind to a halt at pit-in, before it was eventually retired after 177 laps when the crew found damage to an electrical harness during the spring change in the garage. It was one of two cars in the class that failed to finish, the other being the No. 78 AKKODIS ASP Lexus.
“After the dream start to our WEC campaign with Tom getting pole in the brand new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, unfortunately, today didn’t go as planned,” factory driver Charlie Eastwood summarised.
“We had a great start to the race, but after ending up a few laps down, we thought it best – as we’re still new to this brand new car – to make a test out of the race itself.
“As we came in for a stop after my first stint, we realized that we had a problem with an electrical harness and had to retire the car. It was such a high yesterday, but it wasn’t the result we hoped for today. Imola is just around the corner, and I know we will come back strong.”
The team’s No. 82 crew thankfully produced a better outing, but Hiroshi Koizumi, Sebastien Baud and Daniel Juncadella were never in contention, finishing a distant 10th.
Proton, meanwhile, spent the entire buildup to the race and the race itself seemingly on the back foot. From the shipping delays before the Prologue to the event’s conclusion Saturday evening, the Mustangs were unable to claw their way to the front of the field.
A ninth-place finish for Dennis Olsen, Giorgio Roda and Mikkel Pedersen did at least score the team some points for all its efforts this week to get the cars prepped and racing.
The good news is that there were no major issues; the bad news is that the German team doesn’t yet look close to being at the sharp end.
Next up on the 2024 FIA WEC schedule is the 6 Hours of Imola on April 21st.