Qatar Monday Notebook

***Originally slated to begin on Saturday, the FIA World Endurance Championship’s official Prologue test finally got underway on Monday, after sea freight delays forced the series to push back the start of on-track running by two days.

***Only nine cars participated in the opening three-hour session. In Hypercar, only the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competizione and the two Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963s appeared, while in LMGT3, taking to the track were the two United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos, the TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs and the Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2s.

***Most of the Hypercar teams opted to sit out the opening session despite all of them except Cadillac Racing being unaffected by the freight delays, which largely impacted the LMGT3 field. The consensus among them was that the benefits of having more time to analyze data and prepare for the race weekend itself were outweighed by the disadvantage of a dirty track in the first session.

***A spokesperson for the WEC ruled out any further changes to the schedule for the Qatar 1812km itself, which is set to begin on Thursday at 12:20 p.m. local time.

***TF Sport Corvette driver Juncadella shared his impressions of the Lusail International Circuit immediately after the opening session. “The track is super nice, it was actually a positive surprise,” he told Sportscar365. “I think it will be difficult to follow other cars in the high-speed corners, but it’s good fun.”

***On the condition of the track, the Spanish driver added: “In the beginning, I thought it was ok, it didn’t feel dirty at all. But when I drove later on in the session, there was a big step in performance just because of track evolution, so clearly it’s going to rubber up a lot.”

***One of Juncadella’s teammates in the No. 82 car, Hiroshi Koizumi, was summoned to race control along with the team manager following the session, as a result of completing an additional lap after the checkered flag was waved.

***Both Koizumi and another Japanese driver in the LMGT3 class, Akkodis ASP’s Takeshi Kimura, have been given permission to communicate with race control via a Japanese-speaking translator on the basis that they do not speak English. WEC regulations state that all communications must be made in English, but both TF Sport and ASP have been granted exemptions.

***Koizumi’s translator is none other than 1990s Formula 1 driver and cult hero Taki Inoue, according to the relevant WEC Committee bulletin.

***The Isotta Fraschini completed the fewest laps of the nine cars on track for the opening session, logging only 22 laps. Duqueine team principal Max Faward explained that the car stayed in the garage for the majority of the opening two hours owing to a gearbox alarm, which was eventually traced to a faulty sensor.

***Isotta Fraschini had a request to change the name of its entry denied by the WEC Committee after motorsport manager Claudio Berro asked to include the name of partner team Duqueine. WEC refused the request citing article 3.1.5 of the sporting regulations, which state that “after the closing date for entries in the Championship or in the Competition concerned, no further modification will be accepted.”

***Porsche driver Matt Campbell suggested that Porsche Penske Motorsport taking part in last November’s private test at the Lusail International Circuit would help the marque get a “jump start” on its Prologue preparations.

***Campbell said: “That was really beneficial just to understand the track quicker. But coming here for the Prologue, everyone will be in a more similar position after the test. It was a private test with only a few manufacturers, so we need to get a better understanding this weekend.”

***Akkodis ASP team boss Jerome Policand is “not worried” about the driver lineup across the pair of Lexus RC F GT3s, despite the fact that five out of the six drivers have never raced for the team before. “We’ll be consistent,” he told Sportscar365. “Maybe not the fastest group, but I don’t think we have weak points with the drivers. The good thing with my Bronzes [Kimura and Arnold Robin] is that they are used to ACO championships.”

***The Hertz Team JOTA drivers have been taking part in team-building exercises this week, including a volleyball tournament with team principal Dieter Gass. Team co-owner Sam Hignett told Sportscar365 that Gass has brought in one of his former Audi colleagues, who had previously organized such activities back in the LMP1 days.

***Hignett said there’s no update on the team’s prospects of entering IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races in the future, with its full focus for this year on its expanded two-car Hypercar effort.

***The three Russian drivers competing in the WEC this year are all racing under different flags. Daniil Kvyat is attached to the Italian flag, owing to his karting days in Italy, while Robert Shwartzman is under the Israeli flag and Timur Boguslavskiy racing under the FIA flag, as it appears on his No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3.

***Aston Martin factory driver Valentin Hasse-Clot is on-site in a driver coach capacity, with the Frenchman understood to be particularly assisting countrymen Clement Mateu and Erwan Bastard in the No. 777 D’station Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

***Sportscar365 understands that Hasse-Clot could make appearances at additional WEC events this year in a similar capacity.

***Toyota took part in a promotional event in downtown Doha on Monday with a show car carrying the team’s new-for-2024 black livery on display outside the National Museum. It’s understood that the car in question was one of the Japanese marque’s old race chassis, but was not fitted with an engine.

***WEC on Monday announced a new deal with Sport1 that will see the German channel show at least two hours live from each race, with the exception of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sport1 will also have an onsite reporter at each of the eight championship rounds. Additionally, a special double broadcast of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be shown on channels Eurosport 1 and RTL Nitro.

John Dagys & Davey Euwema contributed to this report