'Golden Era' Time
Many international sports car stakeholders have been talking up the imminent rise in top-class racing around the world--a venerable new "golden era" of prototype competition. It's here.
The team that came to Qatar with 32 straight top-three finishes dating back to 2018 felt fortunate to salvage a top-six result.
The car that ran second for most of the race and seemed sure of its first-ever World Endurance Championship (WEC) podium ended up last after a late pit-stop mix-up.
And the winning car, which spent most of the race seemingly on cruise control, had to overcome some late drama that included an extra pit stop for repairs.
If the 2024 WEC season-opener is any indication of what the expanding Hypercar class has in store for motorsport fans, the much-used "new golden era of sports car racing" label may prove to be an understatement.
Nineteen Hypercars representing nine manufacturers started the Qatar 1812--so named for the country's annual National Day on 18 December (18/12)--at Lusail International Circuit. While the No.6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 driven by Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, and Laurens Vanthoor dominated the 335-lap race to record the team's first-ever WEC win, the event suggested that the 2024 season will competitive--or at the very least, different.
Toyota Gazoo has won the last five WEC drivers' and manufacturers' titles--mostly against limited competition. Under rules introduced in 2022, LMDh-spec cars built for IMSA's GTP class can compete against LMH-spec cars in WEC's Hypercar class, and vise-versa.
This season, Porsche, BMW, Cadillac, and Lamborghini are backing teams in both series. In the WEC, they are joined by Toyota, Ferrari, Peugeot, Alpine, and Isotta Fraschini.
Ferrari, which like Cadillac and Porsche joined the WEC's Hypercar ranks in 2023, fired the first shots that suggest Toyota's reign could finally be in jeopardy. The Italian team won an early-season pole at Sebring and then captured the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.
But despite facing its toughest competition in years, Toyota still drove to the 2023 title. The trio of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa steered the No. 8 GR010 Hybrid to a second straight championship, and the two Toyota Gazoo team cars finished 1-2 in four of the season's seven events.
Qatar's storyline suggests a repeat performance will prove difficult.
Nyck de Vries qualified the No. 7 Toyota Gazoo GR010 LMH second overall in Qatar, but could not stay near the front on race day. The fastest race lap turned by either Toyota entry out-paced top laps of just three of the other 17 Hypercars. Toyota's two cars finished sixth and ninth.
“Any more than sixth was impossible,” No. 7 co-driver and team principal Kamui Kobayashi told Sportscar365 after the race. "In fact, we were so slow that it’s a mystery we were able to finish sixth."
WEC's pre-race balance of performance (BoP) adjustments left the GR010s carrying more weight than any other Hypercar. Team officials suggested this played a large role in Toyota's performance. Time, and likely in-season BoP tweaks, will reveal the truth.
Peugeot's race featured gut-punching lows sandwiched around an extended stretch of ecstasy.
The No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 with Paul Di Resta behind the wheel spun in the race's first turn.
Sixteen laps later, Nico Müller in the No. 93 Peugeot drove around one of the Ferraris and into the lead. The Peugeot stayed up front for 37 laps until Vanthoor put the No. 6 Porsche Penske 963 up front, where it would stay--save for some pit-stop shuffling--until the end.
The No. 93 did not fade away, however. Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne, and Müller kept their car ahead of everyone except the No. 6 Porsche. A best-ever WEC finish for the team, topping last year's third place at Monza, seemed all but certain.
But with two laps to go, Vergne suddenly slowed--the Peugeot was out of fuel. Something hadn't gone right during the No. 93's last pit stop, on lap 318. Vergne crawled across the finish line on hybrid power and then pulled over, violating several regulations in the process. The rules missteps earned the No. 93 a disqualification.
Peugeot's misfortune benefitted Porsche the most, as the Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 went from third to second, and the other Porsche Penske 963 entry was lifted to the podium from fourth.
"Nobody could have expected a triple success for Porsche," said Porsche Motorsport Vice President Thomas Laudenbach. "But my respect also goes to Peugeot. It's bitter to be thwarted so close to the finish line. They deserved to be on the podium with us."
Estre, Lotterer, and Vanthoor surely deserved their top podium spot. Vanthoor started the race and drove conservatively, yielding a few positions as the other Hypercars battled around him.
"They were all very excited in traffic, hitting other cars and diving for gaps," Vanthoor said on his Over The Limit podcast. "I was just sitting back and saving...fuel and preserving my tires, letting them do their thing."
The strategy paid off when Vanthoor ran two more laps than his closest rivals before making the team's first pit stop. That helped lift the No. 6 to second place, where it began stalking the race-leading Peugeot.
Twenty laps later, on lap 54, Vanthoor took the lead.
The No. 6 LMDh Porsche put on a clinic for the next 170 laps, building a 90-second lead over the No. 93.
But its coast to victory was interrupted by on-track collisions with two LMGT3 cars.
The encounters, both with Estre driving, left the No. 6 without its left-side number panel. Had Qatar been designated a night race, the team may have faced time-consuming repairs; WEC rules for night races call for not just numbers, but lighted number panels at night. But the floodlight-bathed Lusail circuit meant the race was not designated a night event.
While Porsche was sure about the lighted panel, it took the precautionary step of making an extra pit stop down the stretch to apply a new number to the No. 6. Holes where number panel used to be and in the floor were left alone.
"I had more contact in that race than my whole WEC career," Estre joked in a post-race interview. "There was quite a hole in the car, which I felt in the steering wheel. The pace was okay but [I had] this feeling of something is breaking...1.5 hours to go and we still have to make it through this. Plus the stop at the end...I mean, it was brutal."
Porsche Penske pledges a "one team" approach with its IMSA and WEC efforts. After a so-so start in both series last year, the team steadily improved, winning two of the last three IMSA events. In 2024, it has captured both openers--January's Rolex 24 and Qatar.
It may now be the team to beat, despite Toyota's recent domination. But unlike in recent years, there will be plenty of competition.
"Amazing start [to] the season," Estre said.
It should only get better.
References
"We were so slow..."
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/kobayashi-amazed-toyota-salvaged-sixth-in-qatar/
Vergne suddenly slowed
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fueling-issue-cost-peugeot-qatar-podium/
Laudenbach on the finish
https://www.teampenske.com/news/index.cfm/a/727/54998/Porsche_Penske_Motorsport_Wins_in_Qatar
Over The Limit podcast
https://laurensvanthoor.be/pages/podcast
Estre post-race interview
https://tinyurl.com/mr3npbcb
Porsche Penske's one-team approach
https://tinyurl.com/24frytk3
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