Kevin Estre of Porsche Penske Motorsport set the fastest lap time in the second free practice session for the FIA World Endurance Championship season-opener in Qatar. The field of Hypercars remained closely packed, with all cars within two seconds of each other. Porsche displayed strong performance with their factory cars and customer entrants. Estre’s impressive lap time was a result of teams conducting longer runs to prepare for tire management in the upcoming race. Three out of the top five Hypercars were Porsche 963s, and the order of the top five was separated by small margins.
During the session, Isotta Fraschini’s Jean-Karl Vernay got stuck in the gravel trap, leading to a red flag and a temporary halt in the session. Porsche Penske continued their strong pace from the first practice session, with Kevin Estre being the only driver to dip below the 1-minute 40-second lap time barrier. A full-course yellow was deployed later in the session to remove debris on the track. Despite some incidents, Estre’s time of 1:39.990 remained the fastest, followed by Jean-Eric Vergne in the #93 Peugeot 9X8.
Jenson Button claimed third place in the #38 JOTA Porsche 963, with Alex Lynn and Matt Campbell securing fourth and fifth place respectively. Isotta Fraschini did not complete any further lap times after their earlier incident, making the upcoming FP3 session their final opportunity for more laps before qualifying.
In the LMGT3 category, D’station Racing, United Autosports, and AF Corse showcased their speed and gained valuable track time ahead of qualifying. MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi briefly held third place in the #46 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3. However, track limits violations resulted in penalties for Sebastien Baud in the #82 Corvette Z06 and Takeshi Kimura in the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F. AF Corse secured a 1-2 finish, with Simon Mann setting the fastest lap time in the #55 car.
FP3 will continue tomorrow morning, providing another opportunity for teams to fine-tune their performance before the race.