Photo: MPS Agency
Phil Hanson led a Ferrari 1-2 at the halfway stage of the Qatar 1812km, which ran under safety car after an off-track moment for Proton Competition’s Nico Varrone.
Varrone ran wide out of Turn 15 at the wheel of the No. 99 Porsche 963, damaging the rear and underside of the car after running through the newly installed gravel strip.
That initially led to a virtual safety car, which was then upgraded to a full safety car after three laps in accordance with procedure.
While nearly all Hypercar frontrunners took the opportunity to pit under VSC, it did little to change the running order as Hanson’s No. 83 Ferrari 499P led the factory-entered No. 50 example in the hands of Miguel Molina.
The yellow-livered Ferrari was able to hit the front after both the No. 50 and No. 51 sister car encountered setbacks for varying reasons.
First, the No. 50 car lost ground when Antonio Fuoco was tagged into a spin by the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 piloted by Dries Vanthoor, with the Belgian later serving a drivethrough penalty for the incident.
The No. 51 Ferrari, meanwhile, has dropped to the lower edges of the top ten after incurring three separate penalties.
First, a drivethrough was handed out for virtual safety car procedures, which was followed by a five-second penalty for a Turn 6 incident with the Sheldon van der Linde-driven No. 20 BMW.
Finally, Alessandro Pier Guidi received the car’s second drivethrough penalty for speeding in the pitlane and ran eighth after the round of stops under caution.
Toyota Gazoo Racing, meanwhile, climbed up into the top five with both of its cars, the No. 7 GR010 Hybrid running third in the hands of Nyck de Vries ahead of the No. 8 machine piloted by Ryo Hirakawa.
Rene Rast completed the top five in the No. 20 BMW, while the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R lept up to sixth after not pitting under VSC, with the team on a recovery drive after the earlier dramatic collision with its sister car in the opening hours.
The No. 38 Cadillac, meanwhile, has lost further ground after encountering a throttle issue, while a rear damper issue has caused the No. 5 Porsche to lose ground and drop out of the top ten.
In LMGT3, United Autosports’ No. 95 McLaren 720s GT3 Evo returned to the front with Marino Sato at the wheel.
Sato’s co-driver Sean Gelael captured the lead when the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3 ran off track with Arnold Robin at the wheel.
Ben Barnicoat has since taken over the sole remaining in the Lexus in the race, which has dropped to sixth overall.
Mattia Drudi ran second at the wheel of the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, with Daniel Juncadella third aboard the No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
