With the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Prologue pre-season testing event now over, it’s all eyes on race week. But, let’s look at what the drivers said after the 14 hours of on-track time at the Prologue had concluded, and how they’re approaching the race.

#12 Cadillac’s Will Stevens

“All of us working together for the first time generally has worked really well so far. I think we had a positive start to the week.

“We rolled off the truck with a good racecar and I feel quite comfortable with everything we have at the moment. It’s still early in the race week. We have a lot of things we want to cover in the Prologue and then we have time before next week starts for us to go in and analyze everything.

“The six of us are giving similar feedback and that’s positive point that we’re going to push in the same direction.”

#38 Cadillac’s Jenson Button

 “I’m happy. You always wish there was more testing, but there is still quite a lot more before the race.

I”’ve watched the Cadillac racing the last couple of years, whether its’s in IMSA or WEC, and loved the way the car looks in high-speed corners, the way it rides curbs, the sound of it. It’s awesome. I think the car suits my style a little bit more than what I was driving last year. I’m enjoying the process and obviously it’s a big learning for the team to be working with the Cadillac.

“But I think everyone has worked so well together – all the engineers from Cadillac and JOTA. We’ll have moments, some stumbling blocks along the way, but I feel the atmosphere is really good and everyone is gelling.”

#20 BMW’s Robin Frijns

“I think it went alright. We had a test programme before arriving to Qatar, we followed it pretty much and everything feel fine. Now we need to put the puzzle together and prepare ourselves for the race weekend which is a bit different.

As we don’t drive at night during FP1 and FP2, today was our only opportunity so that was quite important for us. Now it’s all about discussions and see how we can improve the package we have for the race.”

Toyota team principal and #7 Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi

“We tried to get the best out of these two days to prepare ourselves well for the race week. Generally, we had no problems through the two days and managed to complete a lot of laps on both cars. Obviously in terms of pace we seem to be lacking a bit at the moment.

“But we will work on that in the next few days and try to find more performance. There is a lot of work still to do so let’s see how it goes next week.”

#8 Toyota’s Sebastien Buemi

“I’m happy to be back in Qatar, although this is not an easy track for us. We had two long days of running but, like last year, we seem to be struggling a little. We have a few days before free practice so we will work hard with the data that we gathered here and the experience of last year.

“The race is long, but it looks like it might not be easy. We will have to do a perfect job to maximise everything.”

#009 Aston Martin’s Alex Riberas

“This has been an absolute dream the last couple of days, to be able to drive around with the Aston Martin Valkyrie, such a spectacular track like Qatar where you get a fair share of high speed corners where you can really test the extra down forces that we get to experience with the Valkyrie inthe Hypercar class, it’s just incredible.

“So definitely two of the best days of my career, just to be able to drive this car around. It’s an absolute pleasure and on top of it I think we can be really happy as a team, because we created the foundation to build upon

“We came here with with two cars that are brand new and we know what that’s like, where you have to go through the motion of getting both cars ready to operate and with the help of engineers with the help of WEC I think we are now ready for race day.”

Aston Martin’s and Heart of Racing’s Ian James

Very happy. I think it was a really constructive Prologue for us. The car ran pretty much without any major issues, did a lot of laps, improved the performance step by step. It’s the first step on a long journey, so very happy. The team executed really well, drivers did a great job. We look forward to next Friday.

If you could say there’s one thing that you’ve progressed on or learnt, what would you say it would be?

I think just the general systems needed for WEC, to be in compliance with everything and just the operating systems on the car. Until you get into this situation and you have all the live FIA sensors going and what the weight requirements are, you don’t really know what that need is until you’re here.

So just learning all about that and operating that in a controlled environment like we are now. That’s a relief that we’ve been able to tick all those boxes off. These cars are very controlled electronics dependent, and I think that’s the journey we’ve got to go on and just keep improving that side of the car right now.

Aston Martin’s head of endurance, Adam Carter

“Really pleased to be here. It’s taken a lot of effort from everybody involved. The Heart of Racing team have done a fantastic job to get here well prepared, to see the momentum we’ve built during testing to continue here with logging a really high count of laps, car running faultlessly, team coming together, starting to work together as a race team, jelling. And starting to develop the car on track performance. Really looking forward to starting to compete next weekend.

‘Its a very kind of visceral experience to watch a Valkyrie on track. Seeing track Valkyries on the road or seeing them on the racetrack, there’s something very special about it and seeing the Valkyrie here today is no different.

#36 Alpine’s Mick Schumacher

“These two busy days were positive as we got a lot of laps done and I think we are now understanding the car better and better. There are always some things to fine-tune, but I think we are now getting into a good rhythm to do it pretty quickly. Having a season of experience behind me also makes a huge difference, so I am ready for it and happy to get started!”

Alpine team principal, Philippe Sinault

“We had a busy but essential programme for this Prologue, where we finally met up with our competitors again. It allowed us to get the team back up to speed on an operational level while getting some answers to our questions.

“We identified some important areas for improvement, particularly the tyres. Everything went well, as we had no major issues and could work calmly and establish a good foundation ahead of this first race of the year. We have two days to analyse everything and learn the right lessons for this long ten-hour race, where strategy will be paramount.”

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Robin Frijns was fastest for BMW WRT in the fourth and final FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue pre-season test session.

The final four hours of the 2025 WEC Prologue took place in the evening at the Lusail International Circuit which will host the season-opener next week.

After the disruption from yesterday and this morning’s session, Hypercar and LMGT3 teams valued all the time available during green flag running.

The first FCY was deployed for debris on the exit kerb of Turn 15, one hour into the session.

It showcased drivers exploring track limits as much as possible with some punished with minor debris breaking away from their car.

Heart of Racing’s Ross Gunn briefly spun his #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar at T4 which triggered the third FCY whilst the team manager and engineer were immediately summoned to race control.

After a brief stop, Gunn continued again with a black and orange (mechanical) flag shown so he pitted.

A 13-minute red flag ensued with two hours remaining due to debris between T12-13.

The session continued with a long green-flag run with the exception of Riccardo Pera having a brief spin at T10 in his #92 Manthey Porsche 911 LMGT3.R without further drama.

During the final minutes, the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of Simon Mann stopped on the left-hand side at T9 with yellow flags subsequently deployed.

BMW quickest in 2025 WEC Prologue

Robin Frijns set the fastest lap time of the Prologue meeting, a 1:38.971, in his #20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 Hypercar.

Sebastien Bourdais’ #38 JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar was closely behind in second with his 1:39.116 lap time.

The yellow privateer-funded #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P claimed third place owing to Robert Kubica’s 1:39.141.

WRT’s #15 BMW took fourth position after Dries Vanthoor set a 1:39.253 lap time with the other JOTA Cadillac, the #12, rounding out a narrowly separated top-five with Alex Lynn’s 1:39.296 lap time.

In the LMGT3 category, AF Corse held 1-2 positions with the pair of Ferrari 296 LMGT3s’ fastest lap times separated by just 0.020.

Mann set the fastest lap time in the category by the end of the Prologue, a 1:54.790 in his #21 Ferrari.

Francesco Castellacci drove the #54 Ferrari to a 1:54.810 lap time, followed by Zacharie Robichon‘s #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 EVO with his 1:54.939.

Jonny Edgar set a 1:54.957 lap time to put TF Sport’s #33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R in fourth position.

Finn Gehristz rounded out the top-five finishers in the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3 with a 1:54.987.

Action for the Qatar 1812 km will commence next Wednesday 26 February with Free Practice 1 from 11.30am local time or 8.30am UTC.

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Kevin Estre was quickest in the third FIA World Endurance Championship pre-season test ‘Prologue’ session, extended due a prolonged red flag.

After just 15 minutes, third session began in dramatic circumstances when Racing Spirit of LeMan’s Derek Deboer heavily crashed his #10 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 EVO between Turns 4 and 5.

After the incident, Deboer was confirmed well and a red flag allowed for guard rail barrier repairs over the next hour and a half.

The session restarted at 1.22pm local or 10.22am GMT with a 60-minute extension added to the initial three-hour session, thus 2-hours and 36-minutes remained.

Meanwhile Proton Competition confirmed their #77 Ford Mustang LMGT3 would not take part in the Prologue’s final two sessions since suffering a fire yesterday and will instead rejoin the action at the start of Free Practice 1, for the Qatar 1812 km season-opener, next Wednesday 26 February.

Track action resumed green flag running as teams were adamant to utilise the time remaining in the session, concentrating on gaining mileage and longer runs for the Hypercar and LMGT3 competitors.

Celia Martin‘s #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 LMGT3.R and the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of Francois Heriau made contact, so a full-course-yellow period was called.

The Dame stopped just after Turn 2 then continued to the pits as a double yellow held at Turn 3, possibly due to clear debris from their clash. Race control summoned the two drivers for the end of the session.

Two more temporary FCYs deployed with the latter pertaining to to debris on-track at T2.

Harry Tincknell of the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar found himself stuck in the gravel trap between T15-16 with 20-minutes remaining, triggering a fourth FCY to the end.

Porsche Penske fronts Hypercar field, TF Sport heads LMGT3s

By the end of the third WEC Prologue test, the reigning WEC Hypercar champion set a quickest lap time of 1:40.428 in the #6 Porsche 963 Hypercar.

Robert Kubica took second place with his 1:40.777 in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P as last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours winning-Hypercar finished third.

Nicklas Nielsen set a lap time of 1:40.942 in the #50 Ferrari 499P.

JOTA Cadillac claimed fourth place with their #38 V-Series.R Hypercar and a 1:41.064 set by Sebastien Bourdais.

The other factory Ferrari Hypercar, the #51 499P, rounded out the top-five finishers in the hands of James Calado and his 1:41.070 lap time.

TF Sport headed the LMGT3 category as Daniel Juncadella set a 1:55.241 in the #33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R.

AF Corse’s #54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 claimed second owing to Davide Rigon’s 1:55.382.

Finn Gehrsitz’s #78 Lexus RC F LMGT3 (P3) drove a fastest time of 1:55.414 in front of the other TF Sport Corvette, the #81.

Charlie Eastwood set a 1:55.458 in the #81 Corvette as Kelvin van der Linde concluded the top-five in his #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO (1:55.527).

Session 4 (four-hours) will conclude the 2025 WEC Prologue from 5-9pm local time in Qatar or 2-6pm UTC.

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Cadillac’s Alex Lynn headed up a 1-2 for the American manufacturer in the second pre-season testing session, named ‘The Prologue’ for the FIA World Endurance Championship, with the Briton setting a 1:39.575 in the #12 JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R.

Sebastien Bourdais was second in the sister #38 machine, just over two tenths off Lynn.

Third fastest was Antonio Fuoco in the #50 Ferrari 499P, just 0.013 off Bourdais.

Fourth was Porsche’s Julien Andlauer, in the #5 Porsche 963, followed by Robert Kubica in the satellite #83 AF Corse Ferrari.

Unlike the first session, which was interrupted with four red flags over three hours, the session ran stoppage-free. In total, over four hours, there were 13 minutes of full course yellow, and almost five minutes of local yellows.

In LMGT3, Jose Maria Lopez was quickest in the #87 ASP Lexus RC F GT3, the second consecutive session where a Lexus has topped the timesheets. The Argentinian set a 1:54.959 to go quickest, followed by Daniel Juncadella in the #33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R, under two tenths off Lopez. 

Third in class was Alessio Rovera in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, just 10 thousandths of a second off Juncadella. His Ferrari teammate Davide Rigon was fourth in the sister #54 AF Corse Ferrari, while fifth was the sister #78 ASP Lexus of Ben Barnicoat, who topped the first session in LMGT3.

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Robert Kubica set the fastest lap time in the first FIA World Endurance Championship pre-season testing session at Qatar, named ‘The Prologue’, with the Pole setting a 1:41.673 to quickest in the yellow #83 AF Corse Ferrari.

This was almost three just tenths quicker than Will Stevens in the #12 JOTA Cadillac. The new Cadillac factory team impressed in the session, 1-2 at one point with the other car in sixth.

Third was James Calado in the first of the factory Ferraris, the #51 Ferrari 499P, over half a second off Kubica.

In fourth was Dries Vanthoor, onboard the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, just 0.007 slower than Calado. Fifth was the sister factory Ferrari, the #50, of  Nicklas Nielsen, a tenth off D. Vanthoor.

The three hour session was interrupted by red flags four times. The #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Francois Heriau, Claudio Schiavoni in the #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3, Laurens Vanthoor onboard the #6 Porsche 963, and finally the #77 Proton Ford Mustang GT3 of Ben Tuck contributed to each of these red flags, with over 35 minutes lost to stoppages altogether.

In the case of the #6 Porsche, a Porsche representative told Motorsport Week that the car had a suspected fuel system issue, and the car’s internal combustion engine was being changed as a result.

In LMGT3, Ben Barnicoat was quickest in the #78 ASP Lexus RC F GT3, setting a 1:55.862. He was followed by Daniel Juncadella in the #33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R, a tenth and a bit off Barnicoat. Third was Davide Rigon, onboard the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.

The second Prologue session starts at 18:00 local time, or 15:00 UTC.

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The sun has set, literally, on the FIA World Endurance Championship’s pre-season testing event, The Prologue. With track action for the Qatar 1812km, the opening race of the season, getting under way tomorrow, there’s not much time for the data to be analysed.

We’ve looked at both sessions all teams in the Hypercar class ran in, sessions 2 and 3, averaging out the longest stint from each session for each car to see what trends emerge.

First off, the caveat: as usual, this is only testing. No teams are truly pushing and some may be actively sandbagging in order to fool rivals into a false sense of security.

Then there’s the Balance of Performance, which governs how much power and weight each car runs with, plus when the hybrid motors kick in on the front axle for the LMH-rules cars from Ferrari, Toyota, Peugeot and Isotta Fraschini. The BoP has been overhauled this year; more weight can now be added to the cars, and the new two-stage BoP system means different power levels can kick in after the cars reach a certain speed.

With that out the way, here are the average lap times for each team from sessions 2 and 3. 

As you see, Cadillac have come out quickest, with the customer JOTA Porsche squad just a smidge behind. Ferrari were the top LMH-rules car, followed by Peugeot, Porsche and BMW. 

Cadillac, Porsche and Ferrari are all now in the second year of running their cars. The concept of diminishing returns means they have more to gain compared to Toyota, who have been running versions of the GR010 Hybrid since 2021.

Toyota were quite a bit down the order, 1.3 seconds off Cadillac. It’s pretty clear the German-Japanese team are not pushing at all here — don’t expect to see them in that position come Friday and Saturday. That said, they do have the heaviest, least powerful car.

The teams with new cars were, predictably, among the slowest. Alpine were not miles away, less than a tenth slower on average compared to Toyota. However, Lamborghini, with its Ligier-based car, weren’t as quick. Both will be hoping to use Wednesday to analyse the data on Wednesday to find those missing tenths to bridge the gap to the other teams.

It’s another story for the Isotta Fraschini team, though. Almost two seconds off Lamborghini ahead and coming up to four seconds off Cadillac. Hopefully they can find some pace in the Tipo 6 LMH Competizione before the race.

Peugeot, too, seem to be right up there. The Losail International Circuit’s track surface is billiard table smooth, suiting the still-rear-wing-less 9X8 more than other circuits, so it’s possible the French team could spring a surprise in Qatar.

BMW are right in the mix too. The car isn’t new like the Alpine or Lamborghini are — the BMW M Hybrid V8 has run in IMSA for a year now — but it’s new to WEC. That said, WRT have been testing with it for almost a year and have a mountain of data from the States to draw on. While Toyota will probably jump them in the order, they are right up there.

Taking a even a rough stab at an actual order is nigh on impossible, but I expect to see Toyota at the top, followed very closely by Ferrari, Porsche, Peugeot and Cadillac, most likely intermixed in order. BMW should be next up, followed by Alpine, Lamborghini, and Isotta Fraschini.

But I’d also be happy to be completely wrong about this. Surprises are good!

The Qatar 1812km starts March 2nd at 11am local time.

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Porsche completed a clean sweep of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s pre season test event, The Prologue, with Fred Makowiecki fastest in both sessions on the second and final day, with Porsche also topping both sessions yesterday.

The Frenchman was fastest in the fourth and final session, setting a 1:40.404 onboard the #5 Porsche 963. In the third session, earlier in the day, he set a 1:41.223.

The #94 Peugeot 9X8 of Stoffel Vandoorne was next up, just a few hundredths off Makowiecki. Third fastest was Makowiecki’s teammate and fellow Frenchman Kevin Estre in the sister #6 Prsche, with the other Peugeot, #93, in fourth and and the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais fifth.

In the fourth session, the Cadillac was quicker, second fastest with Alex Lynn at the wheel. Yiefi Ye in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P followed, with the two factory Ferraris, #51 followed by #50, fourth and fifth, Antonio Giovinazzi and Antonio Fuoco at the wheel.

In LMGT3, D’Station Racing topped both sessions, with Marco Sorensen at the wheel in the third session and Erwan Bastard quickest in the fourth. The #777 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 drivers were very closely matched, with Sorensen setting a 1:54.791 and Bastard a 1:54.778.

Second in LMGT3 in the third session was Davide Rigon, onboard the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, under two tenths off Sorensen. Third was TF Sport’s Daniel Juncadella, driving the #82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R, just 0.15 off Rigon.

Finally, following Bastard in the fourth session was Rigon’s teammate Francesco Castellaci, the Italian a few tenths away from the Aston Martin. Third was Kelvin van der Linde in the #78 ASP Lexus RC F GT3.

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Callum Ilott of the #12 JOTA Porsche 963 set the fastest lap time from the opening day of the Prologue for the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship.

After the delays to some teams receiving their shipping cargo which contained their race cars, Qatar’s Losail International Circuit hosted its first track action for the WEC and the Prologue pre-season test.

Ilott set a 1:40.541 as the quickest time of the day for JOTA in the second of two sessions.

The first session hosted just nine cars representing five teams, whilst the second saw a regular theme of LMGT3 track limits violations repeat throughout the only five-hour session of the Prologue.

A total of eight hours of running took place today as teams were offered between either participating in Session 1 or Session 4, in addition to Sessions 2 and 3.

Only JOTA and Isotta Fraschini in Hypercar, and Iron Lynx, TF Sport and United Autosports from LMGT3 chose to participate in Session 1.

Unsurprisingly, the two JOTA Porsche 963 Hypercars were fastest in Session 1, initially giving equal track time for each of the #38 and the #12 drivers, before they proceeded further into their programmes.

After an undramatic and quiet opening session, Frenchman Norman Nato set the fastest lap time for the #12 JOTA 963 at 1:41.822, after completing 29 laps.

In second place was the #38 after former F1 World Champion Jenson Button put a 1:43.206 to mark his WEC return, followed by the #11 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6-C in third.

Jean-Karl Vernay set the fastest lap time in the #11 with a 1.45.928, as only Antonio Serravalle did not drive out of the trio.

For the second session at five hours in duration, it hosted the full 37-car field for the first time as the day transitioned from evening to nighttime.

There was a red flag early on in proceedings, Loic Duval of the #94 Peugeot 9X8 and the #95 McLaren of Joshua Caygill both made contact in between Turns 8-10, although were not further investigated.

However, Duval and Caygill were given warnings shortly afterwards in relation to breaching track limits, as the latter driver was awarded a drive-through penalty for such a matter.

Both Toyota GR010 Hybrids set the benchmark from the opening of Session 2, as a long session of productive running awaited the reigning Hypercar champions.

After 1 hour and 15 minutes, the #11 Isotta briefly stopped in the pit lane with Serravalle, and oil was quickly reported.

Further on, the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) procedure was first tested out, before a full Safety Car was deployed in order for the marshals to clear the gravel at Turns 8-9 esses.

Approximately halfway through the session, a second red flag was declared after Harry Tincknell of the #99 Proton Competition 963 was stuck in the gravel at Turn 2.

With 1 hour and 40 minutes remaining, a second VSC before another red flag was briefly declared after multiple cats were spotted at the Turn 10 left-hander.

Within the final 20 minutes, Duval of the #94 Peugeot was awarded a drive-through penalty for track limits violations.

Ilott set the fastest lap of Session 2 – and thus in the Prologue so far – amidst his 38 laps in the #12 Porsche 963.

Ferrari AF Corse’s #50 499P was second fastest in Session 2, with a 1:40.673 set by last year’s Centenary Le Mans Hyperpole-sitter Antonio Fuoco.

The sibling #38 JOTA 963 finished third fastest with a 1:40.950 set by Button.

It was the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid which set the most laps in the session at 138, followed by the #51 Ferrari 499P on 127, and the #38 on 124.

LMGT3 began with TF Sport’s #82 Corvette Z06 leading the times in Session 1, as the British outfit set out on its new partnership with the General Motors manufacturer.

By the end of it, United Autosports’ #59 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo was quickest with a 1:56.583 lap set by Nicolas Costa.

In second was the #81 TF Sport Z06 from a 1:56.634 set by Charlie Eastwood, and the other United Autosports #95 720S placed in third after Nico Pino set a 1:56.679.

TF Sport’s #82 Z06 completed 79 laps in Session 1, the most out of all nine cars.

The second session started in drama concerning the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3, after Thomas Flohr stopped at the exit of Turn 2, and so a brief red flag was declared in order to retrieve the car.

Multiple LMGT3 drivers found themselves with warnings after exceeding track limits, implying that they were exploring what was possible on their runs.

Augusto Farfus in the #31 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 was the second driver to receive a drive-through.

The 2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series GT champion Alex Malykhin was summoned to the race director, having already earned a five-minute Stop-and-Go penalty beforehand for track limits violations in the #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Further penalties were awarded relating to track limits violations, as the #82 TF Sport’s Hiroshi Koizumi took on a drive-through, followed later by teammate Daniel Juncadella’s stop-and-go penalty, and the #85 Iron Dames’ Michelle Gatting with a drive-through – before also receiving a stop-and-go.

Closely before the session ended, Matteo Cressoni in the #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 EVO2 was awarded a five-minute stop-and-go, which will likely be served at the beginning of Session 3.

Gregoire Saucy was fastest in Session 2 for United Autosports in the #59 McLaren, after he set a 1:54.480 ahead of the #54 AF Corse driver of Davide Rigon’s 1:54.542.

Esteban Masson finished the LMGT3 top-three in Akkodis ASP Team’s #87 Lexus RC F.

The Prologue will conclude tomorrow with two three-hour sessions, one from 7am GMT and the final from 11am GMT.

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With the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Prologue over, the start of the season proper is just days away. As the teams pore over the data and attempt to work out roughly where they stand in comparison with their competition, let’s see what deductions we can make from the 12 hours of testing over the weekend.

It’s likely obvious to anyone who has looked at the results from any of the four sessions, or read one of MotorsportWeek.com’s articles over the weekend, that Toyota is still the team to beat in WEC. The cars clocked up the most laps of any team, let alone those in Hypercar, running faultlessly over all four sessions, and weren’t just quickest in three out of four — they were 1-2 in all but one.

Looking at the lap times from the fourth session, when most of the Hypercars dropped the sandbags — although there’s likely some remaining — and turned up the wick, it’s clear the Toyotas were the quickest cars, both over a single lap and long runs.

In some quick and dirty average lap time analysis, taking the teams’ longest runs from the fourth session discounting any lap times over two minutes, plus in and out laps, the #8 Toyota, driven at time by Ryo Hirakawa, was the only car to drop into the 1:49s, although only just. His teammate in the other car, Mike Conway, was next, just two tenths back on average.

Next up was the #50 Ferrari, around half a second on average off Hirakawa. Another two tenths back was the #5 Porsche of Michael Christensen, while Kevin Estre in the sister #6 Porsche was a further two tenths off his teammate.

Then came the #2 Cadillac of Richard Westbrook. That’s interesting, since over one lap the #2 Cadillac was Toyota’s main challenger in the final standings, faster than the Ferraris and Porsches — yet over a stint they were at least half a second off that group, at least in the fourth session.

Then we have the #94 Peugeot, a second and half on average off Westbrook’s average and two and half seconds off Hirakawa’s pace-setting stint. Ouch. The French team will likely be scratching their heads trying to work out where the deficit lies. Let’s hope they can find something.

Glickenhaus and ByKolles — sorry, Vanwall — are significantly harder to analyse because both teams, with only a single car, did short stints, ranging between three and six laps, before pitting. The lap times for both, however, were slower than the Peugeot on average.

For Vanwall, it’s hard to say where the team’s pace truly lies. But for Glickenhaus, this is curious, since the team did significantly faster lap times, with the same balance of performance, at Sebring last year. 

The team did say on social media that “The main issue was set up with new WEC “No tire warmer” tires. We figured that out and improved by 1.5s” and “While totally rebuilding the car for the race, we’ll redo TC for new tires. That will improve our time, and we’ll be ready to race”. So, the Italian-American team is still a bit of an unknown here.

Finally, all the Hypercars were fairly reliable, not struggling with any technical issues. There were two driver errors, though, for Peugeot and Ferrari, both of whom can ill afford any less track time. Jean-Eric Vergne crashed the #93 Peugeot in the second session, on Saturday, coming together with the #10 Vector Sport Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 car, while James Calado binned the #51 Ferrari at turn one, struggling with the cold tyre temperatures.

So, in summary. Toyota are definitely the team to beat at Sebring, as many expected. Cadillac, Ferrari, and Porsche all seem fairly close on pace, and not too far away from the Toyotas. Peugeot have got work to do if they want to be challenging that group. And Glickenhaus and ByKolles: hard to say with any certainty.

The first free practice session for the 1000 Miles of Sebring begins at 10:55am local time on Wednesday, lasting for an hour.

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Toyota topped the fourth FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue session 1-2 again, with Brendon Hartley setting the session’s fastest time, a 1:48.218, in #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, ahead of teammate Mike Conway in the sister #7 Toyota.

Thnis means Toyota topped three of the four Prologue sessions, affirming their status as favourites and the team to beat next weekend in the season opening 1000 Miles of Sebring.

The #2 Cadillac V.Series-R was again the third quickest car, another theme from this weekend’s sessions. Richard Westbrook set the car’s fastest time in the final session, a 1:48.890 — the only team other than Toyota to go into the 1:48s.

Ferrari’s Nicklas Nielsen was fourth quickest in the #50 Ferrari 499P, setting a 1:49.300. Michael Christensen, at the wheel of the #5 Porsche 963, was fifth, nearing half a second off Nielsen, with Christensen’s teammate Kevin Estre not far behind in the sister #6 Porsche.

Gustavo Menezes was seventh for the #94 Peugeot 9X8 squad, with the other 9X8, #93, in eighth. However, seventh overall was the leading LMP2 car, the #41 WRT Oreca 07-Gibson of Robert Kubica, who set a 1:50.827.

Back in Hypercar, the #4 Vanwall Vandervell 680 was ninth, 15th overall, with the #708 Glickenhaus tenth in class, 22nd overall. The #51 Ferrari 499P again not run any laps and sat in the pits with more technical issues.

With Kubica and WRT leading LMP2, Yifei Ye was second in class in the #48 JOTA Oreca 07-Gibson, around four tenths off Kubica. United Autosports’ Phil Hanson was third in the #22 Oreca 07-Gibson; the only time the #22 car has not been top of the timesheets in the Prologue.

Finally, Benjamin Barker was quickest in GTE-Am, in the #86 GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19. Second was Lilou Wadoux, behind the wheel of the #83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, while third in class was Matteo Cairoli in the #56 Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR-19.   

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