Cadillac Hertz Workforce JOTA has thrown down the gauntlet to its FIA World Endurance Championship rivals as preparations for the 2025 marketing campaign ramped up in Qatar’s Prologue, with the Anglo-American alliance topping the timesheets on the opening day of the Prologue.
After 2024 6 Hours of COTA winner Robert Kubica led the way in which within the morning for Ferrari privateer AF Corse, Alex Lynn leapt to the top of the order within the longer afternoon session aboard the #12 Cadillac V-Collection.R Hypercar, with stablemate Sébastien Bourdais slotting in simply behind in second, 0.2secs in arrears. Impressively, Lynn’s lap was barely 4 tenths adrift of the quickest effort in qualifying for the Qatar 1812km 12 months in the past.
Ferrari remained up on the sharp finish of proceedings, however on the finish of the day, it was the manufacturing unit #50 499P Hypercar – winner of final 12 months’s 24 Hours of Le Mans – in third place courtesy of Antonio Fuoco. Newly-promoted Porsche manufacturing unit driver Julien Andlauer within the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 Hypercar wound up fourth, as lower than 0.3secs blanketed the main quartet.
Different marques to function inside the highest ten have been defending Producers’ title-holder Toyota and Peugeot, whereas Aston Martin’s model new Valkyrie Hypercars made their first official look in FIA WEC competitors. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing coated probably the most laps of the Hypercar contenders throughout the 2 classes.
In LMGT3, Akkodis ASP Workforce’s Lexus RC F GT3 proved to be the automobile to beat all through, with Ben Barnicoat posting the benchmark time within the morning earlier than team-mate and two-time world champion José María López repeated the feat within the afternoon. TF Sport’s Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R was equally firmly within the combine, as have been Vista AF Corse’s pair of Ferrari 296s, which between them received the ultimate two races of 2024.
Following the completion of a mixed 5,351 laps round Lusail Worldwide Circuit, the Prologue concludes with an extra seven hours of operating tomorrow (22 February) forward of the curtain-raising contest on the observe in every week’s time (28 February).
