Doha: The 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is all set to fire up in Qatar from today, bringing together elite teams from around the globe to chase supremacy. With thrilling showdowns set to light up the track, teams gear up to engage in wheel-to-wheel warfare for the top prize at Lusail.
Fresh off the back of the ‘Prologue’ pre-season test, attention now shifts onto what many anticipate as the most unpredictable and fiercely contested campaign in the FIA WEC’s 13-year history.
The state-of-the-art Lusail International Circuit – stretching 5.418km around 16 turns – made its debut on the calendar in 2024, when Porsche dominated the Hypercar podium. The German manufacturer also captured victory in the first-ever LMGT3 showdown. Now, with the lights about to go out once again at LIC, fans and teams alike are braced for a sensational start to the new season.
“The circuit is quite unique,” acknowledged reigning Hypercar world champion, Kévin Estre, who won at Lusail last year and is bidding to defend his Drivers’ crown with Porsche Penske Motorsport alongside Laurens Vanthoor and – in the longer events – Matt Campbell.
“The entire track is very flat, with hardly any bumps and a lot of grip. Getting the tyres into the optimal operating window will be crucial.”
Located just north of Doha and surrounded by desert, LIC’s smooth, high-speed layout poses a number of challenges as it pushes drivers, cars and tyres right to the limit, from its flat-out, kilometre-long main straight to its tight, twisty and technical middle sector.
Not only that, but with an early afternoon start time and a duration of approximately 10 hours, the Qatar 1812km – named in honour of the country’s national day – will see competitors race from daylight into dark, meaning they will additionally need to deal with dramatically differing air and track temperatures.
Porsche were again one of the leading protagonists during the two-day Prologue, as were Ferrari’s trio of 499P Hypercars and the recently-merged Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA alliance, while Aston Martin’s brand new V12-engined Valkyries made their first official appearance in FIA WEC’s 18-strong Hypercar field.
Reigning Manufacturers’ title-holder Toyota is sure to be a force to be reckoned with once more as it fields an unchanged driver line-up in its pair of GR010 Hybrid Hypercars, and Peugeot will be seeking redemption after the 9X8 was denied its best finish in FIA WEC to-date in Qatar 12 months ago when Jean-Éric Vergne ran out of fuel on the last lap while on-course to scoop the runner-up spoils.
Series sophomores Alpine and BMW, finally, are bidding to build upon late-season momentum from 2024 – with Robin Frijns putting the Bavarian brand at the top of the testing timesheets, as the fastest three Hypercars all dipped beneath the existing lap record.
“Everything feels good,” reflected the Dutchman. “Getting the opportunity to do some driving at night during the Prologue was important, and now, we need to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and prepare ourselves for the race.”
Rossi aiming to reprise Qatar record
In LMGT3, TF Sport (Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R), Akkodis ASP Team (Lexus RC F LMGT3) and Vista AF Corse (Ferrari 296 LMGT3) all looked sharp during testing. The Team WRT-run BMW M4 LMGT3s were consistently there-or-thereabouts, too, with the Belgian squad’s superstar driver – nine-time motorcycling world champion Valentino Rossi – a multiple winner in Qatar on two wheels earlier in his career.
Eager eyes, meanwhile, will be trained on Iron Lynx’s pair of Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 challengers, as the German manufacturer makes its keenly-anticipated debut in the championship ahead of a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June for the first time in more than a quarter-of-a-century.
The on-track sessions will begin with free practice today, followed by qualifying – and the all-important Hyperpole – from 17:00 local time (15:00 CET) tomorrow. The race will get underway at 14:00 local time (12:00 CET) on Friday, 28 February.
