LMGT3 champions Aliaksandr Malykhin (KNA) / Joel Sturm (GER) / Klaus Bachler (AUT) #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche, celebrate their victory on the podium.
On March 2, 2024, the FIA World Endurance Championship, Round 1, took place in Doha, Qatar. The race covered a distance of 1812 km and was held on a Saturday.
Klaus Bachler, a driver for Manthey PureRxcing, expressed his joy and called winning in the FIA World Endurance Championship in Qatar a “dream come true.” He piloted the #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R to victory.
Bachler has been actively participating in other GT races, such as the ADAC GT Masters and the Nurburgring 24 Hours, since his Porsche Supercup campaign in 2015. This was his first WEC race in eight years, and winning in the new LMGT3 category made it even more special.
In his own words, Bachler said, “What a crazy result. It was my first race in a FIA world championship [since 2016], so winning off the bat is simply a dream. Massive thanks to my team and fellow drivers. We put so much energy into this project and prepared everything meticulously. The first victory is in the bag. Seven more races to go – including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There’s still a lot ahead of us.”
Teaming up with Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm, Bachler secured his first WEC victory. Previously, he came close to achieving this feat in 2015 during the 6 Hours of Bahrain as part of Proton Racing’s GTE Am effort.
The GT3 platform has been widely used in various sportscar championships around the world. As a result, the ACO has introduced it as a replacement for the GTE formula starting from the 2024 season. The LMGT3 class made its debut in the WEC at the Losail International Circuit.
During qualifying, Malykhin secured second position in the #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R, finishing 0.807 seconds behind the pole-sitting #81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R, driven by Tom Van Rompuy with a time of 1:54.883.
As the FIA Bronze-rated driver in the #92 lineup, Malykhin primarily drove during the opening portion of the race to fulfill his minimum drive time requirement. This duration was the same as Sturm’s, lasting 2 hours and 55 minutes.
By doing so, Malykhin took the lead in the LMGT3 class and, with the help of Sturm, built a comfortable lead of up to 20 seconds over the second-placed car.
However, their lead was challenged from the halfway point until the end, especially by the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR crew.
Meanwhile, Bachler completed two stints in addition to the final one, which saw him cross the finish line just 4.866 seconds ahead of Alex Riberas.