Porsche had asserted its dominance throughout the Prologue and initial practice sessions for the 10-hour race in Qatar, but Cadillac, its American competitor, surged ahead amidst relatively warmer conditions on Friday morning.
Alex Lynn, piloting the Chip Ganassi-entered Cadillac V-Series.R, clocked a time of 1m40.667s at the onset of the 60-minute FP3, outpacing Matt Campbell in the #5 Porsche Penske car by 0.180s.
However, Lynn’s time fell short by almost seven tenths compared to the week’s fastest lap, set by Kevin Estre in the #6 factory Porsche during cooler temperatures on Thursday evening. This indicates Porsche’s continued strong position heading into the upcoming qualifying session.
In FP3, the customer Jota squad clinched third place, with Callum Ilott recording a time of 1m41.121s in the #12 963, just edging out Laurens Vanthoor in the second factory Porsche by 0.035s.
Peugeot once again showcased impressive pace over a single lap at the Losail International Circuit, with new addition Stoffel Vandoorne securing a commendable fifth position in the best of the two works 9X8 cars, trailing Vanthoor’s Porsche by just two hundredths of a second.
Ferrari emerged as the fourth-quickest manufacturer in FP3, with AF Corse leading the Italian marque’s charge in the final practice session. Yifei Ye piloted the #83 Ferrari 499P to sixth place, followed closely by Alessandro Pier Guidi in the lead works car in seventh.
Jean-Eric Vergne in the #93 Peugeot trailed closely behind, while Toyota struggled, managing only the ninth-quickest time with Nyck de Vries in the #7 GR010 Hybrid, nearly nine tenths off the pace.
The top 10 was completed by Antonio Fuoco in the second factory Ferrari, the #50 499P.
Alpine performed well as the highest-placed new entrant in the Hypercar category, with its two Oreca-based LMDh cars finishing 12th and 13th respectively, trailing behind the Proton Porsche of Julien Andlauer.
The LMGT3 class saw Aston Martin rise to the forefront late in FP3, with Alex Riberas posting the fastest time in the #27 Heart of Racing-entered Vantage GT3. This effort displaced the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 G3, which had held the top spot since the beginning of the session following a strong showing from factory driver Davide Rigon.
Simon Mann in the sister #53 Ferrari secured third place, followed by Frank Perera in the #55 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3, with Marco Sorensen making it two Aston Martins in the top five with the #777 Vantage.
FP3 experienced a brief interruption with a red flag after 15 minutes when James Cottingham’s #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 became stranded at Turn 5. However, after resolving the issue, the session resumed without further incident.
