Matt Campbell from Australia, Michael Christensen from Denmark, and Frederic Makowiecki from France drove the #05 Porsche Penske Motorsport, Porsche 963 in the FIA World Endurance Championship Round 1 in Doha, Qatar on February 29, 2024. Campbell secured pole position for the Qatar 1812km race, the first race of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, with a time of 1:39.347. In the LMGT3 category, Tom van Rompuy from TF Sport claimed pole position on his WEC debut, setting a time of 1:55.251 in the #81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Below is a detailed report of the qualifying session for both classes.
Q1 – LMGT3
During the Q1 session, Tom van Rompuy in the #81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R set the early pace with a time of 1:55.634. Thomas Flohr and Ian James followed closely behind in the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 and the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 respectively. However, Clement Mateu in the #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 overtook van Rompuy’s lap time. Alex Malykhin in the #92 Manthey Pure Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R then set a faster time of 1:55.611. Towards the end of the session, James managed to beat Malykhin’s time, finishing the session as the fastest driver. The top five cars were separated by less than a tenth of a second.
The cars that participated in Q1 LMGT3 were:
P11 – Hiroshi Koizumi – #82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R
P12 – Giorgio Roda – #88 Proton Ford Mustang LMGT3
P13 – Yasser Shahin – #91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3.R LMGT3
P14 – Darren Leung – #31 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3
P15 – Arnold Robin – #78 ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3
P16 – Takeshi Kimura – #87 ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3
P17 – Claudio Schiavoni – #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 EVO2
P18 – Ryan Hardwick – #77 Proton Ford Mustang GT3
Q2 – Hypercar
In the Q2 session, the two JOTA Porsches initially set the pace, with Callum Ilott and Jenson Button leading the way. However, the #5 Porsche 963 driven by Matt Campbell of the Penske team took the top spot and became the first driver to go under 1:40, setting a time of 1:39.757. Nyck de Vries in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid finished second, followed by Jean-Eric Vergne in the #93 Peugeot 9X8. Campbell eventually secured the fastest time of the session with a lap time of 1:39.154.
The cars that did not make it to the Hypercar Hyperpole were:
P11 – Brendon Hartley – #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid
P12 – Yifei Ye – #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P
P13 – Julien Andlauer – #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963
P14 – Nico Lapierre – #36 Alpine A424
P15 – Raffaele Marciello – #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8
P16 – Sheldon van der Linde – #20 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8
P17 – Paul Loup Chatin – #35 Alpine A424
P18 – Daniil Kvyat – Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63
P19 – Jean-Karl Vernay – Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH Competizione
Q3 – LMGT3 Hyperpole
Ahmad Al Harthy initially set the fastest time in the Hyperpole session for the LMGT3 cars, but he dropped down the order as the session progressed. Ian James briefly took the top spot in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, but Tom Van Rompuy in the #81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R eventually claimed pole position with a time of 1:54.883. Thomas Flohr in the #54 AF Corse Ferrari finished third, followed closely by Clement Mateu in the #777 D’Station Aston Martin. Ian James secured fifth place in the #27 car.
Q4 – Hypercar Hyperpole
The first five minutes of the 10-minute Hyperpole session were dedicated to tyre warm-up, as the WEC does not use tyre warmers. In the last five minutes, the drivers started setting representative lap times. Nyck de Vries in the #7 Toyota initially set the fastest time with a lap time of 1:39.687. However, Callum Ilott in the #12 JOTA Porsche went just 0.002 seconds faster to take the top spot. Matt Campbell in the #5 Porsche then set a quicker time of 1:39.557, pushing de Vries down to second. De Vries reclaimed the top spot with a time of 1:39.511, while Ilott improved his lap time but remained in third place. Campbell ultimately secured pole position with a time of 1:39.347, followed by de Vries in second and Ilott in third. Antonio Fuoco finished fourth in the #50 Ferrari.
The full qualifying results can be found here.