TF Sport’s #33 Corvette wins in LMGT3 after starting 13th
Ferrari locked out the podium finishes in the Hypercar class at Lusail International Circuit for the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship when Antonio Fuoco brought the #50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P he shared with Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina home to win the 10-hour race. Fuoco took the chequered flag just 2.348 seconds ahead of the #83 AF Corse Ferrari in the hands of Robert Kubica in the car he shared with Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye. Taking the final podium position was the sister #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi, Pier Guidi at the wheel for the final stint.
In the LMGT3 class, victory went to TF Sport and its #33 Corvette ZO6 LMGT3 R in which Dano Juncadella crossed the line in the car he shared with Ben Keating and Jonny Edgar. Finishing second was the highly competitive #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo driven by Grégoire Saucy with the #31 The Bend Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 in the hands of Timur Boguslavskiy taking the final podium position.
Hypercar
Ferrari displayed fortitude and composure throughout the contest which saw James Calado lead the field away from the grid as pole-sitter in the #51 Ferrari AF Corse entry. The #51 car looked to be in control of the race until just over three hours in when a drive-through penalty for a Virtual Safety Car infringement saw it drop back through the field.
The #83 AF Corse Ferrari moved into the top five after 90 minutes and was challenging for a podium finish throughout the rest of the race. The #51 car moved back through the field and as the race entered its final laps, Pier Guidi was pushing Kubica in the #83 car for second but the Polish driver used every bit of his extensive racing experience to hold on to the runner-up spot.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010-Hybrids finished in 5th and 6th, the #8 car of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Rio Hirakawa beating the sister #7 car piloted by Rene Rast, Robin Frijns and Nyck De Vries to the line by just over 3.5 seconds. Despite a challenging Prologue, Toyota Gazoo Racing proved highly competitive and ran as high as 3rd and 4th before recovering drives from competitors saw them fall back.
Sebastien Buemi, who took the chequered flag in the #8 car, was satisfied with how the race had gone for Toyota Gazoo Racing.
“Actually, it was an amazing effort from the team,” he said. “There were no mistakes, no penalties, and a very good strategy. I don’t think we could have managed more than 5th and 6th, so I’m very pleased; everyone in the team pushed really hard. Our target at each race is to fight at the front. It wasn’t possible here, but we extracted the maximum out of our package and we will try to be stronger next time.”
Alpine Endurance Team finished 13th and 14th with the #36 Alpine A424 crossing the line just over five seconds ahead of the sister #35 car. Ferdinand Habsburg drove the #35 car to as high as 3rd after the first hour before a puncture forced the young Austrian pilot back to the pits. The #36 car of Jules Gounon, Frédéric Makowiecki and Mick Schumacher suffered damage which reduced their pace, resulting in a mixed start to the season for the French team.
“It was a complicated first race,” said Team Principal Philippe Sinault. “The start was very good in terms of the pace set by our drivers and tyre degradation. The #35 suffered a puncture and a collision in traffic which caused it to drop down the order. Despite this, it managed to maintain a similar pace to the competition, although down a lap.
“The performance of the #36 car was affected in the back half of the race by damage. Nevertheless, the potential is there and we must improve between now and Imola.”
The team that will leave Qatar with the most disappointment will be Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA who saw a potential race win wiped out due to contact between its two cars at a Safety Car restart.
In the third hour, Alex Lynn, at the wheel of the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R drove into the back of the sister #38 car with Jenson Button at the wheel at a restart when Button was leading the race and Lynn was in second. Both cars sustained damage and returned to the pits with Button’s damage to the rear deck and wing taking longer to repair than the nose on Lynn’s car.
Team Principal Dieter Gass admitted that it had been a challenging race for the now-Cadillac works team.
“That was a very difficult race for us,” he said. “Unfortunately, we were out of contention after having had contact between our two cars in a very unfortunate moment. Still, we can take away a lot of positives from the last two weeks in our new cooperation with Cadillac. The team is growing together nicely and we have been able to demonstrate a little of the car’s capabilities.
“Still, coming away from the race with small points only, after our performance in decent days, is not what we aimed for.”
LMGT3
The LMGT3 battle was intense throughout the entire race with the United Autosports McLaren 72S GT3 setting the early pace. However, TF Sport’s Corvettes proved their pace and reliability with the winning #33 car starting from 13th on the class grid and by the half-way mark had made its way up to 3rd in the hands of Jonny Edgar.
(Photo: Ian Chicken)
Dani Juncadella was delighted at how the race played out.
“Looking at my heart rate, I think that (in the closing stages) I was on average 35bpm higher than during the first stint so that tells you pretty much everything!£ he said. “We were hoping to have a good start to the season, maybe a top five, but we weren’t super-confident about being able to fight for a podium, and we ended up winning! It tastes great!”
The second round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship takes place at Imola on April 20.
