- Matt Campbell plants Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Porsche 963 on pole
- Kévin Estre qualifies fifth in the sister car at the season opener
- Strong qualifying in Qatar for Hertz Team Jota customer crew
- Best Porsche 911 GT3 from Manthey on P2 in the LMGT3 class
Porsche Penske Motorsport has clinched its first pole position in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC. In a suspenseful hunt for top times at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar, works driver Matt Campbell from Australia claimed the first grid position in 1:39.347 minutes. In the new, two-part qualification, the Frenchman Kévin Estre finished fifth in the works team’s second Porsche 963. The customer team Hertz Team Jota impressed with a strong qualifying effort. Callum Ilott from the UK planted the 505 kW (687 PS) hybrid prototype (#12) on the third grid spot. In the new LMGT3 class, the Porsche 911 GT3 R from Manthey PureRxcing secured second place.
Under almost cloudless skies and with track temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius, the first qualifying session of the 2024 FIA WEC season treated spectators to some nail-biting moments. For the first time, two qualifying sessions were held in both classifications. In the first section, the vehicles from the Hypercar and LMGT3 categories went out on the track. In these two heats, the drivers had twelve minutes to turn a flying lap. The ten fastest vehicles from both categories then fought for the best starting positions in two so-called Hyperpole sessions.
Matt Campbell, winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Bathurst, made it into the top 10 with an impressive lap time of 1:39.154 minutes – by far the fastest lap of the race weekend so far. At the wheel of the No. 5 entry, the Australian ended up with an advantage of more than four-tenths of a second over the second-placed car. Frenchman Kévin Estre achieved seventh in the No. 6 sister car and thus reached the Hyperpole. Both Porsche 963 race cars fielded by Hertz Team Jota also secured positions in the top 10.
In the final Hyperpole session, the drivers had ten minutes to tap the full potential of their fast Hypercar prototypes. Campbell shone here too, improving his times during his six laps and ultimately securing the first pole position for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the FIA WEC in 1:39.347 minutes. Estre turned the fifth fastest lap in the sister car. The British newcomer Callum Ilott put in an inspired drive with third place in the No. 12 car campaigned by Hertz Team Jota. The No. 38 vehicle driven by ex-Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button from Great Britain achieved ninth place. Proton Competition’s Porsche 963 will head into the first race of the 2024 season from 13th place.
“The first pole in the FIA WEC – what a perfect start to the new season,” says Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “We’re especially pleased because we didn’t have an easy time last year. We’ve worked extremely hard and made significant progress. It’s great that something like this is rewarded with a top result. Our car is fast. There are four Porsche 963 in the top 10 of the Hypercar class. This is a brilliant result. Things went well in the LMGT3 class, too. Manthey is on the front row of the grid with a Porsche 911 GT3 R. We’re in a great position to tackle the ten-hour race tomorrow.”
“Congratulations to the entire Porsche Penske Motorsport team and all colleagues at Porsche. Matt and the team made the most of the potential,” explains Jonathan Diuguid. The Managing Director at Porsche Penske Motorsport added: “This is Penske’s 99th pole position in sports car racing – and the first for Porsche in the WEC since Bahrain 2017, so it’s a historic day for us all. This partnership works! Now let’s see what we can do in tomorrow’s race.”
Qualifying result
Hypercar class:
1. Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki (AUS/DK/F), Porsche 963 #5, 1:39.347 minutes
2. Conway/Kobayashi/de Vries (UK/J/NL), Toyota #7, 1:39.511 minutes
3. Stevens/Ilott/Nato (UK/UK/F), Porsche 963 #12, 1:39.622 minutes
5. Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor (F/D/B), Porsche 963 #6, 1:39.981 minutes
9. Button/Hanson/Rasmussen (UK/UK/DK), Porsche 963 #38, 1:40.362 minutes
13. Andlauer/Jani/Tincknell (F/CH/UK), Porsche 963 #99, 1:40.675 minutes
LMGT3 class:
1. Van Rumpuy/Andrade/Eastwood (B/ANG/UK) , Corvette #81, 1:54.372 minutes
2. Malykhin/Sturm/Bachler (UK/D/A), Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, 1:55.179 minutes
3. Flohr/Castellacci/Rigon (CH/I/I), Ferrari #54, 1:55.182 minutes
13. Shahin/Schuring/Lietz (AUS/NL/A), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, 1:56.650 minutes
