LE MANS, France: Team Qatar’s preparations for its historic debut entry in the 24 Hours of Le Mans continued at the Circuit de la Sarthe yesterday with a further two practice sessions and Hyperpole qualifying.
In an extremely competitive session, Team Qatar just missed out on advancing to Hyperpole 2 by fractions of a second and will line up 12th on the grid in the LMGT3 class for the 94th running of the world’s most famous endurance race.
Missing out on the top ten by just 0.072 seconds around the 13.6km lap underlined just how ultra-competitive the LMGT3 class is.
At the wheel of the Qatar-liveried Mercedes-AMG, German Silver-rated driver Julian Hanses took to the track for qualifying at 20:00 last night. He delivered the fastest lap the team has achieved all week, recording a time of 3m54.771s at an average speed of 208.9km/h.
“It’s been a special moment for me. Not many people can say that they have qualified at Le Mans, and to do it in a Hyperpole session makes it even more special,” said Hanses. “I didn’t manage to achieve Hyperpole 2 in the end, but I was happy with my performance.
“This is the highest level of motorsport and a few hundredths of a second can make the difference, with multiple cars covered by a tenth. We need to push to the absolute limit and this is what we are here for.”
The day’s on-track running started with the third Free Practice session, with three hours available to prepare the car for the weekend’s twice-round-the-clock race. Qatar’s Abdulla Al-Khelaifi was first behind the wheel.
Hanses then took over and, towards the end of his stint, began to push. He set Team Qatar’s best time of the session, recording a 3m55.232s lap before Giuliano Alesi took over, bringing the team’s total to 38 laps and securing 14th place on the timesheets.
Following the excitement of qualifying, the final one-hour practice session took place after sunset, allowing drivers to become acclimatised to the nighttime conditions. Al-Khelaifi headed out first before Hanses and Alesi also enjoyed time behind the wheel. Between the three of them, they completed 12 laps, with the best time placing them 20th in class with a 3m57.866s lap.
“It’s been another strong and encouraging day for the Team Qatar by Iron Lynx outfit as we continue our preparations for our historic first entry into the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Latif Al Mannai, President of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) and Lusail International Circuit (LIC).
“Yesterday’s Hyperpole 1 qualifying session demonstrated just how fiercely competitive the LMGT3 class is at Le Mans. To miss out on progression by such a small margin highlights the extraordinary level of competition in this field.
“I am immensely proud of the progress this team has made in such a short period of time and now our focus shifts to the race itself, as we look forward with great anticipation to taking our place on the grid in this historic moment for Qatari motorsport.”
Furthermore, Abdulrahman bin Abdul Latif Al Mannai, President of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation and Lusail International Circuit, met with international media during a specially arranged press conference in the Team Qatar Hospitality, where he outlined the vision behind this historic entry.
He was joined on the panel by Iron Lynx Team Principal Andrea Piccini, Mercedes-AMG Head of Customer Racing Stefan Wendl, and all three Team Qatar drivers as they discussed the team’s landmark participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time.
In addition, a series of media interviews and meet-and-greet sessions were conducted throughout the afternoon, ensuring that Team Qatar’s presence was felt across the paddock and throughout the day.
The crews will return to the track for a brief 15-minute warm-up at 12:00 local time on Saturday before the 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans gets underway at 16:00.
