Toyota Gazoo Racing was the biggest surprise of the two-day testing. Neither car could find a rhythm, and the entries finished 12th and 13th overall.
LUSAIL, Qatar—On the second day of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) Prologue, completed on Tuesday evening, one Porsche Motorsport was setting the fastest times, and another–driven by Frédéric Makowiecki–set the quickest time in the morning and evening sessions. The 1:40:404 best time surpassed what the Hertz JOTA Porsche team achieved in Monday’s trial.
For the moment in the Hypercar class morning session, the two Peugeots set the best times before Makowiecki beat them both with his best effort. Both French cars dropped down the overall order as many surpassed them. The sole Cadillac, driven by veteran driver Sebastian Bourdais, grabbed second place overall, while the Ferrari Corse 499 P, driven by Yifei Ye, took third. The Ferrari AF Corse entries were fourth and fifth overall, while the second Penske Porsche Motorsport car driven by Kevin Estre was sixth. The two Peugeots ended up at the end in seventh and eighth.
In the LMGT3 class, D’Station Racing Aston Martin not only took the morning session with Marco Sorensen clocking a 1:54:791 but kept it at the top of the timesheets even after his teammate, rookie Erwan Bastard, went slower but kept the car remaining first in their class. Davide Rignon, in his Ferrari 296 GT3, finished in second. Daniel Juncadella was third in the TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette in the morning but took 35th overall. The Ferrari 296 GT3 remained in second position even with Francesco Castellacci setting a quick time in the afternoon. Another rookie, Kelvin Van der Linde, placed his Akkodis Lexus ASP in third overall.
There were two red flags during the whole day, both in the morning session. One was for track sweeping, and the other occurred when Charles Milesi stopped his Alpine A424 with a technical failure halfway through the session.
All drivers now have two days off until Friday’s qualifying session begins at 4 p local time. Saturday’s race begins at 11a and is scheduled to be completed by 9p that evening.
