Alpine and Porsche's complicated race at Qatar

WECHyperCar

Mar 9

For the first race of the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) both Alpine Endurance Team and Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Hypercars suffered a lack of performance which already came up during the Prologue despite a 7th overall fastest lap for Mick Schumacher in Alpine A424 #36 and a P10 for Julien Andlauer with #5 Porsche 963.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. Porsche 963 #5 tenth and Alpine A424 #36 13th overall of Qatar 1812km.

Porsche 963 10th and 11th

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 #6 ahead of sister #5.

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 #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 #5 car worked its way up to tenth position and scored two championship points.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 #5.

Michael Christensen (Porsche 963 #5): “A very exhausting, sometimes really difficult race for me. It was pretty tough on the track with so many competitors – rarely did I have had contact with so many other cars in such a short space of time before. I did not want that at all, but sometimes that is the way it is. Our Porsche felt very good at times, but in the end I had to fight with tyre and brake wear as well as the energy level. I was aiming for ninth place, but then we fell out of the performance window and no longer had a chance. We crossed the finish line and have two championship points, which counts because they could become important.”Both TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in top 6.

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.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 #6.

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.” Source: Porsche

Alpine Endurance Team's A424s finished 13th and 14th

Result below its expectations for both Alpine Endurance Team's two A424s After a strong start, race incidents slowed the #35 while the #36 lost pace due to damage

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. Alpine A424 #35

the Alpine A424s started the race with Frédéric Makowiecki (#36) and Ferdinand Habsburg (#35), with hard tyres on the left and medium tyres on the right. This combination remained the same throughout the race. Ferdinand Habsburg made a strong start, gaining five positions to complete the first lap in fourth place. The Austrian was even up to third at the end of the first hour, but he had to come into the pits after 1h16 with a puncture.

Charles Milesi (#35) and Jules Gounon (#36) then took over, confirming the solid start of their teammates, respectively running 6th and 9th as the race neared the four-hour mark. But after 3 hours and 36 minutes, Charles Milesi got caught up in heavy traffic, made contact with a GT car and spun. The penalty was threefold because he suffered a puncture and minor damage and was penalised five seconds during his pit stop, putting the #35 one lap down.

Shortly after half-distance, Paul-Loup Chatin and Mick Schumacher took over in the Alpine A424s #35 and #36 respectively. The two delivered some great battles.

While the #35 tried to make up ground by maintaining a solid pace until the end, the pace of #36 dropped significantly. Various damage affecting the car's behaviour made the task particularly difficult for its drivers. Jules Gounon (#36) and Ferdinand Habsburg (#35) eventually crossed the finish line in 13th and 14th for the second edition of the Qatar 1812km.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Lusail. Alpine A424 #36

Frédéric Makowiecki :"This first race week of the year was very rewarding. We identified various points we worked well on while identifying others we must optimise. There are some interesting things, and we want to come back stronger, beginning at Imola, because we are here to fight at the front. We got off to a good start in the race, but the situation deteriorated afterwards without us honestly knowing why. One thing is sure: the potential is there."

Jules Gounon :"We had higher expectations after the Prologue, but the race wasn't easy. The changing conditions during the race and some small issues with the car in the race's final hours prevented us from maintaining the pace we had set at the beginning. But we have gathered a lot of information and will draw the necessary conclusions to move forward and bounce back at Imola."

Mick Schumacher: "It became increasingly difficult for us when the temperatures dropped. We need to analyse everything in detail to understand what happened. It is not the result we were looking for, especially given the team's work during the off-season and Prologue. We need to look at everything in detail to go to Imola with answers that will allow us to improve."

Ferdinand Habsburg: "The start of the race was fantastic and I really felt very confident with the car in warmer conditions. I so much enjoyed it, to the point of joining the leading trio. Unfortunately, the further the race went on, the more complicated it became for us, with a few minor contacts in particular. We are still in a learning process, and we need to improve to fight with the best. We will start working on it tomorrow."

Paul-Loup Chatin: "For our second time here, obviously, we were aiming for better, but over the ten days, there are many positives to take away, particularly on the operational side. The team did a great job and I know it will pay dividends during the season. The race was difficult and probably not perfect on our side either, but we showed some great things. Now it's up to us to sort out what needs improvement to turn this into good results."

Charles Milesi: "The start of the race was encouraging as we joined the leading group. But after that, it was more complicated, especially with the unfortunate contact with a GT car, which caused a puncture and slight damage. We need to find some performance compared to the test sessions as the competition also worked hard during the winter. With a cleaner race, we would have fought for points. Whatever happens, we need to stay positive and get back to work for Imola." Source: Alpine