Iron Dames, Mustang and Corvette in top 10

WECLMGT3

Mar 7

Team WRT #46 ends sixth

The #31 BMW M Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 driven by Augusto Farfus, Sean Gelael and Darren Leung, made a strong come back from 14th to sixth place.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail (Qatar). Sean GELAEL, #31 BMW M4 GT3.

Sean GELAEL, #31 BMW M4 GT3: "First race weekend of the season with the boys, first time for me in WEC with a LMGT3 but also for the team. It is not the result expected nor the one we wanted but I think it is still good points. We will run from there. In the end, this is not how you start but how you finish (at the end of the season). We've learned a lot here at the season-opener and now we need a cleaner weekend with again a strong strategy and it should be all good for Imola!" Source: Team WRT

#55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari in P7

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail (Qatar). #55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3

Alessio Rovera behind the wheel of the #55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3, recorded the fastest lap with a time of 1:53.529, achieved during the final stint on lap 279 ending seventh.

Iron Dames ends eighth

Sarah Bovy with #85 pink Lamborghini Huracan EVO2 did had contact with the #46 Team WRT BMW necessitating a change of the rear bumper early in the race. That did not deter the only women trio on the grid (with Michelle Gattin and Doriane Pin), who kept their heads down and raced on into the night. The early issues behind, the pink car remained solidly in the top 10 as the laps ticked on, eventually finishing comfortably ahead of the Proton Competition Ford.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail (Qatar). Sarah Bovy in #85 Lamborghini Huracan EVO2 battling with #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 and #46 BMW M GT3.

MICHELLE GATTING: “We can be happy with eighth today. There is a bit of work to do, but I think everybody did very well. I’m very pleased with the performance from Sarah, Doriane and the whole team. Hopefully at Imola it will go a bit more in our direction and we should be able to do a good result there.”

SARAH BOVY: “That is it for the first round of the FIA WEC 2024 with eighth. I think we did a good, consistent race. We are aiming for more and we will keep pushing and working hard to do better in the next race. We still scored some good points at the start of the championship. I also want to say congratulations to the ladies from the Iron Dames Equestrian team. They won their first competition here in Qatar. I am very happy for them.”

DORIANE PIN: “I think we can be happy with eighth and specially the progression we made during the week with the team. Together with my team-mates, I think we are heading in the right direction. We still missing something to reach the top five, but we look ahead and we will keep working and pushing for Imola.” Source: Iron Dames

Ford satisfied with P9 for WEC debut

Both Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 were not able to claw their way to the front of the field during both weekends (Prologue and race) but did reach the goal of a top-10 for both cars with #88 driven by Dennis Olsen, Mikkel Pedersen and Giorgio Roda. Sister car #77 ended 11th.

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

Dennis Olsen, #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3: “I’m happy to be in the points at least after a very difficult week – all the way from the prologue to the end of the race. We tried to fight back from penalties, and the car was actually really reliable. We did the maximum of what we could. We may not have had the ultimate pace, but it’s very positive to see the trend that the car is reliable. Hopefully we get some more performance for the next race. With more preparation, I think we’ll be in a good window to fight for even better positions.”
Mikkel Pedersen, #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3: “We had a good race. We finished in the points. It was a bit better than I expected, seeing how the start was. Giorgio got hit and then the car was a bit tricky to drive – a lot of understeer, which made it difficult to stay within the track limits. This, of course, gave us some penalties during the race. But a ninth-place finish for the first race with this car… last week, this car was new for Giorgio and me. I think we managed to learn the car and the team is also learning a lot. Again, it was a good points weekend. I’m sure we’ll improve for Imola.”
Giorgio Roda, No. 88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3: “Finishing ninth in the first ever WEC race for the Mustang GT3 is a really good achievement, considering where we started in the prologue. I’m really happy. The car stayed in one piece for the entire 10-hour race. So, we’re improving with each sector and with what we do. We’re getting to know the car better as drivers, and so are the engineers and mechanics. The car has real potential. We just need to focus on testing it and driving it more – getting to know the car even more, so we can compete for top-five and then top-three. I believe we can do it with Proton Competition.” Source: FORD

Set back for Corvette Racing with P10 after pole

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lusail (Qatar). #82 Corvette Z06 GT3.R

Daniel Juncadella, Sébastien Baud and Hiroshi Koizumi were never in contention, finishing a distant 10th in the #82 Corvette Z06 GT3.R for TF Sport’s first race under the Corvette Racing banner.

Starting from pole position, Van Rompuy in the #81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R for the first 20 minutes before losing the leadership in lap 8 and going progressively down in the ranking (P5 in lap 27). His teammates Rui Andrade lost first several laps for the TF Sport team to replace the electronic shifter and Eastwood had to abandon as the team discovered an issue with an electrical harness. The trio still left Qatar with one championship point due to Van Rompuy’s pole run Friday.

LMGT3 post race classification