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FIA World Endurance Championship Doha at QatarFebruary 28, 2025No perfect start to the season for Porsche Penske Motorsport in Qatar Race, FIA World Endurance Championship, Round 1, Doha (Qatar).
Porsche Penske Motorsport finished the season opener of the FIA World Endurance Championship in tenth and eleventh place. The Proton Competition customer ended the 10-hour race on the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar with an identical Porsche 963 as 15th. In LMGT3 category, the two Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R entered by Manthey 1st Phorm and Iron Dames finished twelfth and 13th respectively. The start on the 5.419-kilometre Grand Prix circuit in the north of the country's capital Doha took place in sunny weather at 2:00 pm local time. The air reached 21 degrees Celsius at this time and the tarmac had heated up to 34 degrees. After just four hours, darkness set in and the track temperature dropped to just 18 degrees. This posed particular challenges for drivers and teams. In the eventful opening phase, the two 508 kW (691 PS) hybrid prototypes from Porsche Penske Motorsport had to cope with setbacks. A damaged tyre forced Julien Andlauer to pit unscheduled after barely 30 minutes. This dropped the Frenchman, who shared the number 5 Porsche 963 with his compatriot Mathieu Jaminet and the Dane Michael Christensen, to 18th and last position in the Hypercar class. The trio was able to benefit from an early refuelling stop during a safety car phase. As a result, this Porsche 963 temporarily moved up to fifth place again. However, another tyre defect and a damper element on the rear axle, which had to be fixed at the halfway point of the race, cost them time again. With a strong final attack, the number 5 car worked its way up to tenth position and scored two championship points. For Laurens Vanthoor in the sister car, things also did not go according to plan: an opponent slid into the rear of the Belgian in the turmoil at the start. As a result, the rear wing had to be replaced at the first stop. Reigning FIA WEC drivers' world champions Vanthoor and Kévin Estre from France together with Australian Matt Campbell finished the opening race, dubbed "Qatar 1812km", in eleventh place. "We knew from the start that we were in for a difficult race," explains Urs Kuratle, Head of Factory Motorsport LMDh. "Last year, we finished with three Porsche 963 on the podium here in Doha, but the situation has changed. We were not completely faultless today, but the team and the drivers did a good job. Nevertheless, the result is disappointing." "We only scored two points today - but I feel like we deserved more," said Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. "Our two Porsche had a long day. The number 6 car was caught up by the Virtual Safety Car through no fault of their own. From then on, it was one lap down but running with good pace and no real mistakes. Number 5 suffered two punctures and a technical problem. Despite this, they were able to stay on the lead lap until shortly before the end. For the second round of the season in Imola, we will improve a few things and work on our performance." The Porsche customer team Proton Competition crossed the finish line in 15th place at the end of a difficult race. Neel Jani from Switzerland - overall winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche in 2016 - as well as Nicolas Varrone from Argentina and Nicolas Pino from Chile suffered from a brake problem at times, which put the trio a lap down and let them lose contact with the front runners.
LMGT3 class: challenging race for Porsche customer teams
Drivers' comments after the race Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 963 #6): "A disappointing result. Last year we won here in Doha, now we are eleventh. To be honest, the Porsche drove quite well, but we could not go any faster. There is not much more to say, really."
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