Ilott Keeps JOTA on Top; Remaining Cars Join Prologue

Callum Ilott kept Hertz Team JOTA atop the timesheets for the second FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue session in Qatar, which saw all 37 cars take part after limited running earlier in the day.

Ilott steered the No. 12 Porsche 963 to a best lap of 1:40.541 to go quickest across the five hours of running, which largely took place under the floodlights at Lusail International Circuit. 

The British driver’s time compared strongly to the 1:41.822 that co-driver Norman Nato posted during the opening three hours of running on Monday, although that session saw limited action as the majority of teams opted to keep their cars in the garage and instead take part in the second optional session scheduled for Tuesday.

This meant that the vast majority of competitors got their first taste of the Lusail venue on Monday evening, as this time each of the 37 cars entered for this weekend’s Qatar 1812km took part.

The pair of Toyota GR010 Hybrids completed the most mileage with the No. 8 car clocking 138 laps, 11 more than the sister No. 7 machine.

However, neither of the Japanese cars featured in the top ten, which was led by cars from Porsche and Ferrari.

Behind Ilott, the No. 50 Ferrari 499P of Antonio Fuoco slotted into second ahead of the sister JOTA Porsche driven by Jenson Button in third place.

Antonio Giovinazzi picked up fourth in the No. 51 Ferrari, with Earl Bamber rounding out the overall top five in the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

The No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari ran sixth, just over a tenth clear of the No. 93 Peugeot 9X8 of Mikkel Jensen as Michael Christensen ended running eighth in the best of the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s.

Marco Wittmann gave BMW M Team WRT a spot inside the top ten for its first session in the Hypercar class, posting a 1:41.971 to go ninth quickest and narrowly outpace the No. 6 Porsche driven by Laurens Vanthoor.

In LMGT3, Gregoire Saucy reeled off a 1:54.480 to put the No. 59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo atop the timesheets, 0.062 seconds faster than the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 in the hands of Davide Rigon.

Five different brands were represented inside the top five, with the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3 in third place ahead of the No. 27 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Daniel Juncadella completed the top five behind the wheel of the No. 82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

The five-hour session was interrupted by a total of three red flags, including one in the opening minutes for a stoppage for Thomas Flohr’s No. 54 Ferrari.

The session was halted for a second time with two and a half hours left when the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche of Harry Tincknell became stranded in the gravel at Turn 2, although the car later rejoined.

A third and final red flag came out with just over 90 minutes left, which a WEC spokesperson told Sportscar365 was called because several cats had made their way onto the circuit.

Prologue running in Qatar continues with a third, three-hour session scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Session 2