The 2024 Qatar 1812 km (formally known as the 2024 Qatar Airways Qatar 1812 km) was an endurance sportscar racing event, held on 2 March 2024, as the first of eight rounds of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship. It was the inaugural running of the event.
Background The event was announced on 9 June 2023, during the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend. The race, which was the first for the FIA World Endurance Championship in Qatar, was set to run for 1812 kilometres, and if this distance was not met, a maximum of 10 hours. The number 1812 is a reference to the country's national day.
This was also the first event in FIA World Endurance Championship history without participation of both the LMP2 and LMGTE classes. LMP2 was axed due to an increase in demand for grid slots in the Hypercar category. LMGTE Am, however, was replaced by the new LMGT3 class, which features largely the same idea as standard GT3 cars, but with a voluntary bodywork conversion kit. Furthermore, torque sensors are placed on all cars for monitoring of powertrain performance. The class runs with a Pro/Am driver structure.
Balance of Performance On 16 February 2024, the FIA published the balance of performance (BoP) for the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes.
Hypercar In Hypercar, all nine cars received base weight, power, and energy values, which will be evaluated during the season. Furthermore, the FIA tested a so-called 'Power gain' mechanism for the hypercars during the Prologue, where each car will receive a certain percentage of extra power after reaching a speed of . However, this feature was not used during the Qatar race itself, but it may be used from the Imola event onwards. Additionally, the hybrid system deployment speed for the LMH cars stayed the same: for the Peugeot, and for the Ferrari, Isotta Fraschini, and Toyota.
The Alpine had a weight of 1070 kilograms (kg) during the event, with a maximum power output of 510 kilowatts (kW) and a maximum stint energy of 909 megajoules (MJ). The BMW was 10 kg lighter than the Alpine, bringing its weight down to 1060 kg, with a maximum power output of 506 kW and a maximum stint energy of 904 MJ. For the Cadillac, the FIA added 2 kg of ballast to the minimum weight, totalling to 1032 kg, with 499 kW of power and 890 MJ of stint energy. The 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning Ferrari cars weighed 1075 kg, with 503 kW of power and 902 MJ of energy. The new Isotta Fraschini received a total of 55 kg of ballast, bringing it up to 1085 kg, with 514 kW of power and the highest maximum stint energy of all manufacturers: 917 MJ. The Lamborghini, another new car, had a weight of 1041 kg, a power output of 502 kW and 895 MJ of energy. The Peugeot received no ballast, keeping its weight of 1030 kg, with the highest power of all: 520 kW. Additionally, they had 904 MJ of energy. The Porsche had a weight of 1048 kg, 505 kW of power, and 900 MJ of energy. Lastly, the defending champion Toyota had the heaviest car, 1089 kg, with 510 kW of power and 914 MJ of energy.
LMGT3 For the first ever LMGT3 event, the power gain mechanism was used. Each car received a positive or negative power gain after reaching . Furthermore, all cars received base weight, power gain, and energy values, which will be evaluated during the season. A difference with the Hypercar class is that LMGT3 weight values will be evaluated per car instead of per manufacturer. All cars received a minimum ride height of 50 millimeters.
The Aston Martin had a weight of 1318 kg, an additional power gain of 2.0%, and 689 MJ of energy. The BMW weighed 1321 kg, received an additional power gain of 1.0%, and 687 MJ of energy. For the Corvette, the weight will be 1331 kg, with no additional power gain, and 685 MJ of energy. The Ferrari also weighed 1331 kg, but had a negative power gain, namely -1.0%. It also received 678 MJ of energy. The new Ford had a weight of 1326 kg, with a power gain of 2.0%, and 696 MJ of energy. For the Lamborghini, the weight was set at 1332 kg, with the biggest power decrease after 200 km/h: -4.0%. Their stint energy was set at 676 MJ. The Lexus, with a weight of 1345 kg, was the heaviest of them all. Furthermore, they received a power decrease of -1.0%, and 698 MJ of energy. The McLaren had a weight of 1327 kg, no power gain and 684 MJ of energy. Finally, the Porsche was the lightest car, with a weight of 1315 kg. They received a power gain of 1.0%, and 685 MJ of energy.
Entry list
The entry list was revealed on 13 February 2024, and includes 19 entries in the Hypercar category, and 18 entries in the new LMGT3 category. BMW, Alpine, Lamborghini, and Isotta Fraschini have all entered their new hypercars for the opening event. However, Glickenhaus and Vanwall were not able to get a spot on the full-season Hypercar entry list, the former having announced the cessation of their WEC program before the season ended.
In LMGT3, Aston Martin, BMW, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, and Porsche were able to secure a full-season entries, fielding two cars each. Each team is required to field at least one bronze driver towards the Pro/Am class structure.
Schedule Date Time (local: AST) Event Thursday, 29 February 12:20 Free Practice 1 17:30 Free Practice 2 Friday, 1 March 11:00 Free Practice 3 16:00 Qualifying - LMGT3 16:20 Qualifying - Hypercar 16:40 Hyperpole - LMGT3 16:58 Hyperpole - Hypercar Saturday, 2 March 11:00 Race Source:
Practice There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday: two on Thursday and one on Friday. The session on Thursday morning was scheduled to be run for 90 minutes, but ended three minutes early due to a red flag. The Thursday afternoon session was scheduled for 90 minutes, but also ended a few minutes early due to a red flag. The final session on Friday lasted 60 minutes.
Practice 1 The first practice session took place at 12:20 PM AST on Thursday and ended with Matt Campbell being fastest in the No. 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport, with a lap time of 1:42.486. James Calado was second fastest in the No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse entry followed by Kévin Estre in the No. 6 Porsche. Nico Pino was fastest in LMGT3 with a lap time of 1:55.824, followed by Alessio Rovera in the No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, and Davide Rigon in the No. 54 Ferrari. The session was red flagged a total of three times. The first stoppage was for IT problems in the race control center, and the second stoppage was for a photographer in a dangerous area. The final stoppage came with three minutes to go, when Raffaele Marciello beached his No. 15 BMW M Team WRT BMW in the gravel, ending the session early.
Class Entrant Driver Time Hypercar 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Matt Campbell 1:42.486 LMGT3 95 United Autosports Nico Pino 1:55.824 Source: Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Practice 2 The second practice session took place at 5:30 PM AST on Thursday. Kévin Estre was fastest in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry with a lap time of 1:39.990. Second-quickest was Jean-Éric Vergne in the No. 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies entry, with Jenson Button's No. 38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche in third. Simon Mann was fastest in LMGT3 in the No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, with a lap time of 1:55.190. Francesco Castellacci was second in the No. 54 Ferrari, with Sean Gelael in the No. 31 BMW M Team WRT BMW in third. The session saw two red flags. The first red flag came after Jean-Karl Vernay beached the No. 11 Isotta Fraschini entry in the gravel at turn 6. The second stoppage came after Mirko Bortolotti's No. 63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini suddenly stopped with nine minutes to go, after which the session was not resumed.
Class Entrant Driver Time Hypercar 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Kévin Estre 1:39.990 LMGT3 55 Vista AF Corse Simon Mann 1:55.190 Source: Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Final practice The third and final practice session took place at 11:00 AM AST on Friday, with Alex Lynn being fastest in the No. 2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac, with a lap time of 1:40.667. Matt Campbell was second in the No. 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry, followed by Callum Ilott in the No. 12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche. Alex Riberas was fastest in LMGT3 in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin, setting a lap time of 1:54.964. In second was Davide Rigon in the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, with team-mate Simon Mann in the No. 55 Ferrari in third. The session saw one stoppage after fifteen minutes, when James Cottingham got his No. 59 United Autosports McLaren stuck in the gravel in turn 5.
Class Entrant Driver Time Hypercar 2 Cadillac Racing Alex Lynn 1:40.667 LMGT3 27 Heart of Racing Team Alex Riberas 1:54.964 Source: Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Qualifying For the first time in WEC history, the Hyperpole format was used at all races, instead of at Le Mans only. In this format, both classes get a 12-minute session, after which the top 10 fastest cars advance to the Hyperpole round. The Hyperpole session lasts 10 minutes, and decides the car starting from pole position.
Qualifying started at 4:00 PM AST on Friday. The first two sessions were for LMGT3 cars and Hypercars, respectively, after which the top 10 in each class would advance to Hyperpole. The first Hyperpole session was for LMGT3 cars. Tom van Rompuy was the fastest in the No. 81 TF Sport Corvette, with a time of 1:54.372. Second was Alex Malykhin in the No. 92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche, with Thomas Flohr in the No. 54 Ferrari in third. In Hypercar, it was Matt Campbell who claimed pole position in the No. 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche with a lap time of 1:39.347. Second was Nyck de Vries in the No. 7 Toyota, with Callum Ilott third in the No. 12 Porsche. The No. 77 Proton Competition Ford did not set a time in the first LMGT3 qualifying session due to an issue with the car.
Qualifying results Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold. Class Entrant Qualifying Hyperpole 1 Hypercar 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 1:39.154 1:39.347 1 2 Hypercar 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing 1:39.567 1:39.511 2 3 Hypercar 12 Hertz Team Jota 1:39.714 1:39.622 3 4 Hypercar 50 Ferrari AF Corse 1:40.097 1:39.976 4 5 Hypercar 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 1:40.317 1:39.981 5 6 Hypercar 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 1:39.974 1:40.067 6 7 Hypercar 2 Cadillac Racing 1:40.446 1:40.103 7 8 Hypercar 51 Ferrari AF Corse 1:40.522 1:40.224 8 9 Hypercar 38 Hertz Team Jota 1:40.569 1:40.362 9 10 Hypercar 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 1:40.281 1:40.504 10 11 Hypercar 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing 1:40.586 11 12 Hypercar 83 AF Corse 1:40.634 12 13 Hypercar 99 Proton Competition 1:40.675 13 14 Hypercar 36 Alpine Endurance Team 1:40.682 14 15 Hypercar 15 BMW M Team WRT 1:40.702 15 16 Hypercar 20 BMW M Team WRT 1:40.738 16 17 Hypercar 35 Alpine Endurance Team 1:40.984 17 18 Hypercar 63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx 1:41.699 18 19 Hypercar 11 Isotta Fraschini 1:43.189 19 20 LMGT3 81 TF Sport 1:55.634 1:54.372 20 21 LMGT3 92 Manthey PureRxcing 1:55.611 1:55.179 21 22 LMGT3 54 Vista AF Corse 1:55.666 1:55.182 22 23 LMGT3 777 D'station Racing 1:55.619 1:55.184 23 24 LMGT3 27 Heart of Racing Team 1:55.251 1:55.320 24 25 LMGT3 85 Iron Dames 1:55.993 1:55.340 25 26 LMGT3 59 United Autosports 1:55.752 1:55.524 26 27 LMGT3 95 United Autosports 1:56.356 1:55.836 27 28 LMGT3 46 Team WRT 1:56.244 1:56.028 28 29 LMGT3 55 Vista AF Corse 1:56.381 1:56.596 29 30 LMGT3 82 TF Sport 1:56.586 30 31 LMGT3 88 Proton Competition 1:56.650 31 32 LMGT3 91 Manthey EMA 1:56.650 32 33 LMGT3 31 Team WRT 1:56.770 33 34 LMGT3 78 Akkodis ASP Team 1:57.117 34 35 LMGT3 87 Akkodis ASP Team 1:57.920 35 36 LMGT3 60 Iron Lynx 1:59.792 36 37 LMGT3 77 Proton Competition No time 37 Source:
Race Start and early hours