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.
