Daniel Juncadella fended his way towards maiden LMGT3 victory at the Qatar 1812 km, the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season-opener.
TF Sport’s #33 co-driver Juncadella held off pressure from Gregoire Saucy’s #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 EVO towards victory after 287 laps completed.
For the first time in the 2025 season, the grid of 18 LMGT3 competitors fought around the Lusail International Circuit for a 10-hour endurance event.
Conditions were mildly warm if not noticeably humid, impacting the drivers from a physical aspect to contend with.
United Autosports were clear stars during qualifying and at the race start, they held 1-2 formation with #95 McLaren driver Darren Leung ahead of James Cottingham’s #59 McLaren.
Arnold Robin initially maintained third place in the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3, ahead of both AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3s, but exhibited a move on Cottingham on Lap 2.
In fact, Robin was soon able to claim the LMGT3 class lead from Leung. In the other #87 Lexus, their race ended early when Petru Umbarasecu attempted a move on the inside of the #21 Ferrari, of Francois Heriau, but misjudged his attack and spun the Ferrari as a result.
He pitted soon after and the #87 continued back out and served an awarded drive-through (DT) penalty.
Whilst Robin went on to extend a prominent lead, the attention was on the fight for fourth place.
On Lap 13, Thomas Flohr (#54 Ferrari) defended Tom van Rompuy’s #81 TF Sport before Ahmed Al Harthy tried a move on the outside at Turn 7.
Van Rompuy soon became the second retirement due to a broken alternator shaft pulley.
Lexus falls back behind both McLarens
Robin’s prominent lead was diminished during the first round of pit stops, where the #78 Lexus driver emerged in third place behind the two McLarens.
Nevertheless, Robin continued his momentum as to challenge 2023 British GT champion Leung’s #95 in second place whilst his 2023 British GT vice-champion Cottingham led the charge at the front.
The top-four, to be exact, ensued in a tense battle as just two seconds covered the group.
Al Harthy showcased eager form again when he began chasing down Robin for third place, although managed to get into second during a pit stop sequence as Robin continued longer than the others before pitting.
Finn Gehrsitz took over from Arnold as the other Bronze-graded drivers continued going.
During the third hour, Christian Reid lost the rear end of his #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 and got the rear wheels beached into a gravel trap at Turn 9.
This instigated the first virtual safety car of the race and brought the group of LMGT3s together again.
After the second SC period, declared when the two Cadillacs collided, Al Harthy continued to pressure the #78 Lexus even with Gehrsitz at the wheel.
The other #87 Lexus, meanwhile, became the second retirement of the race primarily induced from the damaging contact it had earlier.
During the fourth racing hour, Ben Tuck of the #77 Proton Ford Mustang LMGT3 fought amidst the leading back.
Sebastien Baud of the #59 McLaren duelled with Gehrisitz’s #78 Lexus, leaving Tuck to make a move for the lead on both of them.
Tuck then defended off the #78 Lexus, unfortunately losing the lead to Gehrisitz as Baud then overtook Tuck into second place.
United Autosports fends lead as Proton suffers heartbreak
The race surpassed the halfway mark with the United Autosports McLarens not in dominant form as they were during the opening stages of the race as the #78 Lexus kept them at bay in the lead.
With his hard work maintaining the top spot, Gehrsitz pitted from the lead to allow Robin.
Valentino Rossi undertook a fierce duel for fourth place in the #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO with Francois Heriau’s #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3.
Rossi put a move on the inside at final corner but Heriau stuck with him on main straight, unable to return the favour.
Robin, a Bronze-graded driver, understandably fell to P5 after Sebastien Baud overtook him in the #59 McLaren.
With five hours remaining and the daylight well and truly gone, the humidity increased to 50%.
United Autosports regular Marino Sato fronted the LMGT3 class for the #95 McLaren on the restart and held off Heart of Racing’s Mattia Drudi and their #27 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 EVO.
A fourth safety car was deployed due to the #77 Ford which caught fire at the wheel of Bernado Sousa.
Smoke filled the cockpit as he drove down the main straight, prompting him to park the car at Turn 1– the team having previously suffered a fire during the Prologue with a new chassis to take on the season-opener as a result.
Sato and Gelael hold ground for the #95 McLaren
Marino Sato kept his form clean but strong in his defensive work which was relieved after Drudi faced a drive-through penalty for a previous unsafe pit stop release.
Juncadella piloted the #33 Corvette in third place but looked positive on virtual energy with more than those around him.
Ahead of the Spaniard, a fight for second ensued when Alessio Rovera (#21 Ferrari) chased Kelvin van der Linde’s #46 WRT BMW, before the #46 pitted and Rossi returned to the wheel.
Sean Gelael held a promising lead with smooth pace, having earned the Goodyear Wingfoot Award for his efforts during his driving time.
United Autosports’ controlled lead eventually came to a close at the beginning of the ninth racing hour; Gelael served a DT for an unsafe pit stop release in front of the #10 Racing Spirit of LeMan Aston Martin.
The #95 McLaren lost their winning chances with 1-hour and 26-minutes remaining, yet the fight for the lead continued with the #31 WRT BMW of Augusto Farfus ahead of Zach Robichon’s #27 Aston Martin, Jonny Edgar’s #33 TF Sport Corvette and Saucy in fifth place for the #59 McLaren entrant.
Quickly after Juncadella took over from Edgar, Saucy began his surging pressure on the Corvette in what would end up perpetuating right to the checkered flag.
Juncadella resists Saucy’s pressure for first win pursuit
Both TF Sport and United Autosports had yet to claim victory in the fairly new LMGT3 era of the WEC.
It became a closely matched, intense fight between the #33 Corvette and the #59 McLaren – especially with the McLaren crucially in position to return a win after United claimed pole – even if it was with the #95 McLaren.
Timur Boguslavskiy of the #31 BMW held the lead by 20-seconds over the fighting duo behind, but was significantly lower on virtual energy in comparison to the #33 and #59, therefore was destined to pit.
Back to the lead fight, #33 Juncadella in front had 10% more virtual energy than #59 Saucy and so evidently fended off the McLaren.
The pair duelled just 0.2 seconds between them as Saucy numerously stuck on Juncadella’s tail, occasionally looking for a window of opportunity.
There was pressure to make a move whilst not throwing away 10-hours of hard work by the #59 crew, and so Saucy tried a move but could not make it stick.
TF Sport wins tense fight for maiden LMGT3 win
After 287 laps, Juncadella won the LMGT3 class for TF Sport and Covette with his co-drivers Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating.
Saucy claimed second place under half a second behind the #33 at the finishing line – with his #59 McLaren co-drivers Sebastien Baud and James Cottingham, followed by the #31 WRT BMW trio of Timur Boguslavskiy, Augusto Farfus and Yasser Shahin in third.
Ben Barnicoat took fourth position for the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus crew along with Finn Gehrsitz and Arnold Robin.
Alessio Rovera finished fifth for the #21 AF Corse Ferrari crew including Simon Mann and Francois Heriau.
Heart of Racing took sixth with their #27 Aston Martin and co-drivers Mattia Drudi, Zach Robichon and team principal Ian James.
Marino Sato secured seventh place in the end for the #95 McLaren team along with team-mates Sean Gelael and Darren Leung.
The other AF Corse, the #54 Ferrari, finished eighth with Davide Rigon, Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr.
Racing Spirit of Leman came home in ninth with Valentin Hasse Clot, Eduardo Barrichello and Derek Deboer as Proton Competition’s #88 Ford trio of Dennis Olsen, Giammarco Levorato and Stefano Gattuso rounded out the top-10 finishers.
See the full classification of results here.
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