Porsche 911 ahead two Aston Martin in LMGT3

WECLMGT3

Mar 6

A race dominated by #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail (Qatar). Top 3 last pit stop during Qatar 1812.

Starting on the grid in P2 after turned the second fastest time in the Manthey PureRxcing #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R, Alex Malykhin took an authoritary lead from van Rompuy with #81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R in Turn 1 of lap 8 to dominate the 18-strong LMGT3 field over almost the entire distance with teammates Klaus Bachler and Joel Sturm. They actually lead 235 laps of the 299 covered. Their major opponent was #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 who lead the race during 41 laps mainly thanks to offset pit stops.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail (Qatar). #92 **Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R.**

“This weekend we won the first world championship race based on FIA GT3 vehicles. This is a new chapter of racing history,” says Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. “From the development efforts of the entire project team to the test and race preparation by the Manthey team and their drivers – this teamwork has paid off and it makes me particularly proud. We’ll take some insights and homework with us from Qatar because it’s just the beginning of a challenging season.”

Klaus Bachler (Porsche 911 GT3 R #92): “What a crazy result. It was my first race in a FIA world championship 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.” Source: Porsche

Double podium finish for Aston Martin Vantage GT3

P2 for #27 Heart of Racing team Aston Martin AMR LMGT3

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail (Qatar). #27 Heart of Racing team Aston Martin AMR LMGT3.

Despite leading the LMGT3 class during 41 laps #27 Heart of Racing team Aston Martin AMR LMGT3 and its drivers Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas, finished a mere five seconds behind the winning car after a storming drive.

Second place was the Heart of Racing’s best result on only its fifth race in the WEC, and marks its second consecutive podium finish, after the team placed third in the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain finale last November.

Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “This was a very promising start for the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3, underlining its potential both as a competitive racing car and as an accessible platform for racing drivers of all levels to extract the maximum performance from it. WEC must also be congratulated for the new format it has introduced with the LMGT3 class, which proved highly competitive, and entertaining, and is a great platform for rival manufacturers to compete on an equal footing. We now move on to the next round at Imola, confident that we can build on this strong opening result and in the knowledge there is more to come from our new Vantage.”

“This is a great day for the Heart of Racing and the new Vantage GT3,” said James after the race. “We fought for the win all day long and we ended up with second, and we are very happy with that. Now we move on to Imola with some good points in the bag. The strategy was good, everyone in the team played their part and they did a great job with the car.” Source Aston Martin Racing

D’station Racing fights back to third place

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail (Qatar). D'station Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 #777

D'station Racing’s rookie duo both performed brilliantly, underlining the improved drivability of the Vantage as Clément Mateu delivered a highly competitive first stint in his first start in WEC. He then suffered a small issue in the pits, which dropped the team to tenth, but delivered another three consistent stints to keep the team in the hunt. Erwan Bastard drove exceptionally well, and error-free, to put the car back in the top five, and Sørensen emerged the victor in a thrilling battle with his former AMR team-mate Maxime Martin for third in the final stages.

Marco Sørensen said: “It feels amazing, it’s fantastic to start the season with a podium. We had a few small mistakes in the race, but I think we can be very proud of what we did. I don’t think we expected to be on the podium in the first race of the season, so I am very happy for the whole team. Congratulations in particular to Clément and Erwan, who did a great job on their first race in the WEC. I also have to say the #777 D’station Racing car felt like one of the fastest GT cars in the race, and that just says a great deal about how much potential the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 has. I am really looking forward to Imola.”

P4 for Rossi-Martin-Al Harthy

The Team WRT #46 BMW M4 GT3, driven by BMW M works drivers Valentino Rossi and Maxime Martin, along with Ahmad Al Harthy, fought for the podium in the new LMGT3 class until the end. Ultimately, the trio finished in fourth place, just a few seconds behind the top three.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail (Qatar). #46 BMW M4 GT3

Vincent Vosse (BMW M Team WRT Team Principal): “ In LMGT3 we had a solid race, with both cars and both line-ups. We had a strong race, without any mistakes, but we did not have the tools to fight for a better position. The guys in the pitlane did a really good job for their first race in FIA WEC. Finishing P4 and P6 is a good result but it’s not what we are looking for so we still have some work to do to improve.”

Valentino Rossi (#46 BMW M4 GT3, 4th place LMGT3): “It’s a good start to the season as finishing P4 is quite good but it’s a shame to be so close to the podium and to not step onto it. It was a perfect race for us with no mistakes, no track limits. The guys did an amazing job in the pits as well and we just missed a little bit of speed to make it to the podium.”

#54 FERRARI 296 LMGT3 secured P5

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail (Qatar). #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3

Thomas Flohr, at the wheel of the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 alongside Davide Rigon and Francesco Castellacci, delivered an outstanding performance during his two stints. Consistently holding top positions, he surged up to second place during the sixth hour of the race.
At the chequered flag, the teams had completed 297 laps (2 laps behind the winners) in a gruelling race that forced them to adapt to changing temperatures and asphalt conditions.

LMGT3 post race classification