Photo: Charly Lopez/DPPI
Robert Kubica put the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari at the head of the times for the opening session of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Prologue test in Qatar.
The ex-Formula 1 racer posted a best lap of 1:41.673 aboard the third-string Ferrari 499P early in the second hour to end the three-hour session on top, 0.295 seconds clear of Will Stevens in the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry.
A final-hour improvement from James Calado in the best of the works Ferraris, the No. 51 car, a 1:42.188, put that car third-fastest, ahead of Dries Vanthoor in the fastest of the BMW M Hybrid V8s and Nicklas Nielsen in the No. 50 Ferrari.
Jenson Button made it two Cadillac V-Series.Rs in the top six in the No. 38 JOTA car.
The session was punctuated by four red flags, the first two of which were caused by LMGT3 runners — first the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, then and the No. 60 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo — hitting trouble in the first hour.
A problem that caused the No. 6 Porsche 963 to stop on-track while Laurens Vanthoor was at the wheel caused the third stoppage in the second hour, while the final interruption came with less than 30 minutes on the clock when the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 reportedly caught fire.
Porsche and Toyota both had low-key starts, with the best-placed cars from each respective manufacturer ending up ninth and tenth.
Newly-promoted factory driver Julien Andlauer set the best time in the No. 5 Porsche 963, a 1:43.297, to go ninth-fastest behind Robin Frijns in the second of the Team WRT-run BMWs and the best of the Peugeot 9X8s, Paul di Resta’s No. 93 car.
A late improvement of 1:43.314 from Sebastien Buemi in the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, meanwhile, was enough for the final spot in the top ten, just ahead of the quicker of the two Alpine A424s, the No. 36 machine.
Aston Martin’s pair of brand-new Valkyries ended up 14th and 18th, with Harry Tincknell setting the best time for the British marque, a 1:43.663, in the No. 007 entry.
In LMGT3, Akkodis ASP newcomer Ben Barnicoat ended up quickest with an early effort aboard the No. 78 Lexus RC F GT3, a 1:55.862.
That was enough to top the times by 0.239 seconds from the No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in which Daniel Juncadella set the fastest time.
Third was the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari of Davide Rigon, just over a tenth behind, while Bronze-ranked Razvan Umbrarescu was fourth in the No. 87 Lexus ahead of the second of the TF Sport Corvettes, the No. 81 car of Charlie Eastwood.
Testing continues with the second session of the Prologue, which starts at 6 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET) and lasts for four hours.
RESULTS: Test Session 1
