The WEC hosted its annual two-day pre-season test at the Losail International Circuit on Monday and Tuesday, providing some hints about the competitive picture for the Qatar 1812Km race.
The circumstances weren’t exactly usual, with the Prologue having to be delayed by two days due to the late arrival of sea freight amid the geopolitical issues in the Red Sea.
Moreover, the schedule was altered multiple times, with all teams effectively getting three sessions of running across two days. Each team had to decide whether their cars were ready for the first test on Monday afternoon or if they preferred to put in some mileage later on Tuesday.
Although Jota and Isotta Fraschini didn’t take part in the final session, having already hit the ground running on Monday, it still provided the most representative picture as all WEC teams used the opportunity to gather as much data as possible about the track conditions in Qatar.
The fourth session was affected by a single red flag, which means the impact on long runs was also quite minimal.
The usual caveats of testing apply, with information regarding tyre usage and fuel loads not being made public.
Long-run pace analysis
|
Car |
Team |
Average time |
Stint length |
Representative laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#2 |
Cadillac |
1m42.431s |
29 |
21 |
|
#5 |
Porsche |
1m42.593s |
17 |
8 |
|
#6 |
Porsche |
1m42.267s |
15 |
10 |
|
#7 |
Toyota |
1m43.778s |
15 |
9 |
|
#8 |
Toyota |
1m43.524s |
20 |
15 |
|
#15 |
BMW |
1m43.369s |
27 |
19 |
|
#20 |
BMW |
1m43.385s |
21 |
17 |
|
#35 |
1m43.267s |
22 |
17 |
|
|
#36 |
Alpine |
1m43.645s |
23 |
15 |
|
#50 |
1m43.276s |
24 |
18 |
|
|
#51 |
Ferrari |
1m43.570s |
31 |
21 |
|
#63 |
Lamborghini |
1m43.546s |
22 |
15 |
|
#93 |
Peugeot |
1m43.193s |
32 |
19 |
|
#93 |
Peugeot |
1m43.408s |
32 |
24 |
Cadillac
LMDh cars weren’t always competitive against LMH machinery last year, but Cadillac’s pace in the Prologue raised hopes about a more equitable battle in 2024.
Earl Bamber put in a 29-lap stint right at the beginning of the fourth session, one of the longest of any driver on Tuesday afternoon. Excluding any laps that were lost to traffic, plus those spent heading out or entering the pits, that worked out to a sample size of 21 laps.
Breaking inside the 1m41s bracket on six different occasions, Bamber set an average time of 1m42.431s, which should put Cadillac second in the pecking order ahead of Qatar.
However, it should be noted that Cadillac is sticking to a single car this year, which could negatively impact its chances for the race.
Porsche
Cadillac’s pace was exceeded by Porsche, with Laurens Vanthoor averaging 1m42.267s across 10 representative laps over the course of a 15-lap stint. The sample size is much smaller than Cadillac’s, but with tyre wear less of a concern in Qatar, it’s unlikely that Vanthoor’s time would have dropped much with another 10 laps on board.
The fact that Vanthoor set the fastest lap of the car at the end of that stint also suggests that there was still a lot of life left in those tyres when he headed back into the pits.
The sister #5 factory Penske car that topped the session was three tenths slower on average with Michael Christensen at the wheel, but still well and truly clear of everyone else.
Toyota
Toyota didn’t only lag behind its rivals on one-lap pace. Its race simulation also suggested a major deficit to Porsche and Cadillac, with Brendon Hartley only averaging 1m43.524s over 15 representative laps on Tuesday.
That has prompted suggestions from rivals that Toyota hid its true speed in the Prologue and that the Japanese manufacturer would return to the front when the race weekend properly gets underway.
A faster stint by Mike Conway in the #7 car was interrupted by a red flag, so there is no doubt that there remains some more pace to be unleashed.
However, that's not to say Toyota's struggles in Prologue aren't real, with both drivers and the team management pointing to some serious issues with how the car is behaving around the track.
While the newly-laid surface in Qatar is generally easy on the tyre, Toyota has been suffering from a lot of graining following a Balance of Performance change that has negatively impacted the GR010 Hybrid.
The track layout also doesn’t exactly suit the Toyota package, which previously was consistent on all types of circuits.
Alpine
Alpine looked solid if not stellar while sharing the track with other cars for the first time in the two-day Prologue, as the French manufacturer returned to the top class with an Oreca-based LMDh car after a year in LMP2.
Both A424s completed reasonably long stints, with Charles Milesi in the #35 car averaging a time of 1m43.267 over 17 representative laps. The car's reliability remains a question mark, given the Qatar race will run for 10 hours, but the pace the Signatech-run squad showed in the Prologue is certainly encouraging.
BMW
Alpine’s pace means BMW may not end up being the best of the new manufacturers in Qatar this year, despite having already got one year of running under its belt in IMSA.
Both cars were nearly identical in race simulations, with Dries Vanthoor just marginally faster in the #15 M Hybrid V8 after 17 competitive laps. However, Robin Frijns set the fastest lap of the #20 car on his final tour, which means BMW could yet be quicker come the start of the Qatar round.
Ferrari
Ferrari was surprisingly off the pace in Prologue, having also received a small cut in performance for Qatar.
Both Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Fuoco completed long runs in the #50 Ferrari 499P, with the latter’s average time a shade quicker at 1m43.276s. That was over a 24-lap stint, out of which 16 laps have been counted for the purpose of providing an accurate representation of the team’s speed.
While that may be a second slower than what Porsche managed, Fuoco completed a total of six laps below the 1m43 mark, which is a positive sign for the Italian marque.
Lamborghini
Lamborghini will run a single car on its WEC debut, which means it will have a limited amount of data to work on. Former Formula 1 Daniil Kvyat completed a race simulation of 22 laps, out of which 15 were not seriously affected by traffic or lap deletions. His average time was 1m43.546s, putting Lamborghini on a par with Toyota but behind other newcomers BMW and Alpine.
Peugeot
The Losail layout appears to suit the Peugeot, further proving the inconsistency of the current 9X8 concept that is being shelved in favour of a new design from Imola.
While Peugeot’s performance tailed off towards the end of last season, the French manufacturer was able to compete near the front on merit at Le Mans and Monza and was rightly rewarded with a podium in the Italian race.
Mikkel Jensen and Loic Duval weren’t quite quick enough to join Cadillac and Porsche in the 1m42s bracket when it came to average laptimes. The former’s 32-lap stint only yielded an average time of 1m43.192s from 19 representative laps.
However, both Jensen and Duval were able to dip into the 1m41s over the course of their race sims. Duval, in fact, set two times below the 1m42 mark, with his fastest time during that stint a 1m41.939s.
