Makowiecki Tops Third Prologue Session for Porsche

Frederic Makowiecki put Porsche Penske Motorsport on top of Tuesday’s third test session of the FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue test in Qatar.

Makowiecki left late in the three-hour session to set the benchmark time of 1:41.223 aboard the No. 5 Porsche 963, knocking Peugeot driver Stoffel Vandoorne off the top of the times by a slender 0.037 second-margin at Lusail International Circuit.

However, this was around seven tenths of a second off the pace set by Callum Ilott in the No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche during Monday night’s second session.

Vandoorne in the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 and Jean-Eric Vergne in the No. 93 car established a a one-two for the French manufacturer early on, Vandoorne setting a 1:41.260 and Vergne going second on a 1:41.622 in the early running.

It wasn’t until after the second of two red flags – both for track cleaning – that the Peugeots were split, with Kevin Estre setting a 1:41:420 with 30 minutes to go, before Makowiecki hit the top of the times around eight minutes later.

Estre’s time remained good enough for third, while Vergne’s earlier benchmark kept the second of the Peugeots fourth.

Best of the rest behind Porsche and Peugeot was the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R in which Sebastien Bourdais set the best time of 1:41.652s.

Next was the best of the Toyota GR010 Hybrids, the No. 7 machine in which Nyck de Vries posted a 1:41.789, while the No. 12 JOTA Porsche was seventh on this occasion with Ilott at the wheel.

Ferrari’s top representative was the No. 51 AF Corse 499P in eighth place courtesy of James Calado’s best lap, while Yifei Ye put the customer No. 83 Ferrari ninth.

BMW rounded out the top 10 with the best of its M Hybrid V8s, the No. 20 car whose best lap was set by Sheldon van der Linde.

Alpine’s No. 35 car suffered a reported engine failure a little beyond halfway through the session, not long before the second of the red flags, while Charles Milesi was on board the Mecachrome-powered A424.

Both the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 and the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche were delayed in starting the session following overnight rebuilds, but neither car encountered issues during the session itself.

In the LMGT3 class, the times were topped by the No. 777 D’station Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Marco Sorensen, who set a best time of 1:54.791.

That was enough to beat Davide Rigon in the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 by 0.153 seconds, while Daniel Juncadella was third-fastest in the No. 82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

The best of the United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos, the No. 95 car, and the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston completed the top five.

For the two JOTA Porsches, the Isotta Fraschini, and three LMGT3 teams – TF Sport, United and Iron Lynx – the Prologue has come to an end, as these teams participated in Monday’s optional opening session.

The remaining 28 cars will take to the track for the fourth and final session at 2 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET).