Andre Lotterer was circulating 28s out in front in the factory #6 Porsche Penske 963 LMDh after five hours of racing in the Qatar 1812Km, as the order stabilised after a chaotic start at the Losail International Circuit.
The Porsche moved into the lead at the beginning of the second hour when the #93 Peugeot 9X8 of Nico Muller ran wide at Turn 1, allowing Lotterer’s team-mate Laurens Vanthoor to surge to the front.
Vanthoor was able to extend his advantage to almost 40 seconds by the end of his stint, before handing over the car to Lotterer, who joined the track with just over half a minute in hand.
Although Lotterer lost close to 10 seconds to the #93 Peugeot driven by Jean-Eric Vergne at the beginning of his stint, he was able to claw back the lost time by the next round of pitstops, just short of 4pm local time in Doha.
It was Ferrari who led the early stages of the race, with Miguel Molina jumping from fourth to first with a rapid getaway in the factory #50 499P. However, Molina’s stint at the front proved to be short-lived, with Muller finding it easy to slip past the Italian into Turn 2 in the first 20 minutes of the race.
Muller was able to build a buffer of 9s at one stage before slipping into the clutches of Vanthoor, who was able to immediately pull clear after making the crucial pass for the lead.
Muller and team-mate Vergne were able to consolidate second position in the first part of the 10-hour contest, keeping the #93 Peugeot clear of Jota’s #12 Porsche that lost time by switching drivers at every pitstop.
The Jota would drop to fourth just before the halfway point of the race, behind the #5 Porsche now driven by Frederic Makowiecki.
The polesitting car, however, is running out of kilter after Michael Christensen was forced into making an early pitstop due to reported vibrations.
AF Corse’s customer 499P was the best-placed Ferrari at the halfway point of the race in fifth, a result of the factory team receiving a double blow in the second hour of the race.
After the #50 Ferrari picked up a penalty for crossing the white line, James Calado in the sister #51 499P made contact with the #59 United Autosports McLaren at Turn 15, losing the entire rear bodywork as a consequence.
The subsequent repair work dropped the car almost two laps off the lead in 18th place, ending any hopes of a victory.
The second of the two Jota Porsches held sixth position with Oliver Rasmussen at the wheel.
Source: Autosport