Six sessions in the prologue and the training sessions on Thursday at the 1,812 kilometers from Qatar – things are looking great for Porsche. And in the right order, because the factory Penske cars have had the action firmly under control since the second day of the prologue. Motorsport.com Global, the international sister portal of Motorsport-Total.com, spoke to several Porsche drivers.
The atmosphere there is great. “At the moment it looks like we are stronger than ever before,” says Kevin Estre, who set an incredible time of 1:39.990 minutes in the second training session with the Porsche #6 (Estre/Lotterer/L. Vanthoor). “But there are many brands represented. We have to wait for qualifying. That will be a small foretaste and the race is very long.”
“I think that [die Strecke] suits our car very well. It’s very flat and I think that suits our car,” he continues, but warns against euphoria. “We won’t be too confident too soon. The others can definitely keep up, I’m sure. If you look at us, that’s an improvement compared to other tracks.”
Teammate Lotterer answers the question of whether the WEC opener in Lusail is the best chance for Porsche to take its first victory in the World Endurance Championship (WEC): “That remains to be seen. But yes, on paper “We look so good for the first time.”
“I think we have made good progress with the car and our set-up. The trend is looking good for many Porsches. It should be a good race.”
Porsche impressed with strong long runs at the prologue. Times in the 1:42 range are regularly possible for the LMDh car. But Ferrari also showed strong long runs in the free practice sessions. The Ferrari is considered to be gentle on tires, the Porsche was initially the exact opposite, but now the 963 has also become tame and black gold.
“If you have good balance and handle the tires well, you automatically have a snowball effect,” says Michael Christensen from the Porsche #5 (Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki). “If you’re doing well, it helps you a lot towards the end of the stint. I hope we can do that in the race too.”
“If you have a good start, everything is fine. If you start the stint badly and damage the tires, it can be a very long stint. It’s always about managing and understanding the tires and the car. I think “We had a decent week, a decent preparation. In free practice the car felt as we expected. Hopefully we can build on that.”
Whoever has no graining is king
Frederic Makowiecki sees Porsche’s strong performance as a logical consequence of the hard work over the winter. “We are very happy with the development we have made in the team over the winter, with the way we work. We are stronger than last year. In this respect, the winter was very productive for us,” says he told Sportscar365.
“In motorsport there are aspects that are no longer in our hands. We have to be proud of our work. In this respect I am happy with the steps we have taken. We are here to win, not to get P2 or P3. Of course “We feel like we’ve never been so well prepared. Now we have to confirm that on the track.”
According to Makowiecki, the secret in Qatar is to avoid tire graining, the infamous graining. This is due to the route characteristics with many long and few tight corners – in combination with the notorious Formula 1 asphalt.
“I think it’s the only track where we have this layout and this surface where nobody really has tire wear,” he explains. “If you don’t have graining, you’re the king. If you have graining, it’s a different story.”
“There are so many on this route [langgezogene] Curves where the tire cannot rest. It is difficult to build the temperature as it should be. We worked hard to get the tire up to temperature.” That was necessary because it is extremely cool for the region this weekend, below 20 degrees at night.
“We seem to be in a good position, but I don’t want to get overconfident. When you have a chance, you have to take it. You can’t make mistakes. At the moment, our strength is to be focused and not exuberant. This We have to keep the philosophy until the finish line.”
“It has happened that it looked too shiny and then the result was ruined by a mistake. That shouldn’t happen,” warns “Fred Mako”. The victory would be a great relief for the still winless WEC arm of Porsche Penske Motorsport, he assures.