Estre Puts Porsche Ahead in Extended Third Prologue Session

Photo: Jurgen Tap/Porsche

Porsche Penske Motorsport led the third test session of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Prologue test in Qatar, with Kevin Estre setting the quickest time.

Estre’s best time in the No. 6 Porsche 963, a 1:40.428, came in the third hour of what was an extended four-hour session on Saturday, which had an extra 60 minutes added following a red flag caused by a crash for the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin.

A crash for Derek Deboer aboard the No. 10 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo just 15 minutes into the session left the barriers at Turn 5 damaged, and led to the session being suspended for over an hour while repair work was completed.

Estre’s best time was 0.251 seconds ahead of the No. 51 Ferrari 499P of Antonio Giovinazzi, who made a two late improvements to jump to second, while Antonio Fuoco posted a 1:40.722 at the very end to go third in the No. 50 car.

That demoted the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari in which Robert Kubica had set the best time of 1:40.777 to fourth, while Jenson Button rounded out the top five aboard the quicker of the two Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA cars.

Porsche’s No. 5 entry was sixth-fastest in the hands of works team newcomer Julien Andlauer, while Alex Lynn’s best time aboard the No. 12 Cadillac put that car seventh.

Rounding out the top ten were the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8, the No. 36 Alpine A424 and the second of the BMWs, the No. 15 car.

The top contenders from Peugeot and Toyota were 11th and 13th respectively, while the two brand-new Aston Martin Valkyries propped up to the Hypercar order.

A trip to the gravel for the No. 007 Aston Martin between Turns 15 and 16 with just under 20 minutes on the clock was responsible for the last of four full-course yellows.

In LMGT3, Jonny Edgar set the pace with a best lap of 1:55.200 in the No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, outpacing the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Davide Rigon by 0.182 seconds.

Finn Gehrsitz was third-quickest in the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3, just over two tenths off the pace, followed by Charlie Eastwood in the second of the TF Corvettes and Mattia Drudi in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin.

The final test session of the Prologue begins at 5 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Test Session 3