Khaled Al Qubaisi and team Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing overcame tough competition and changing conditions to qualify in third place in the GTE Amateur class for Saturday’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, round three of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), at Circuit de la Sarthe in France.
Following a successful free practice and then three qualification runs over the last three days in wet and dry conditions, the team behind the wheel of the No88 Porsche 911 RSR are happy with the balance and performance of the car.
The highlight of the qualifying rounds was the fact that after classifying in eighth in Q1 in a time of 3:59.861, Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing put pedal to metal in Q2 and quickly moved up to third, clocking a time of 3:57.513 in the first 30 minutes before heavy rainfall hampered the round.
Drivers returned for Q3 which, however, was red-flagged following a heavy downpour for more than one hour.
Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing are now upbeat ahead of the 24-hour race but are also cautious given that their rivals in class are a little faster and have thus decided to adopt a smart strategy to counter their pace.
After one hour of #LeMans24 free practice, Khaled Al Qubaisi is leading in GTE-Am with the #88 #911RSR pic.twitter.com/HaJsfT57QN
— Proton Competition (@ProtonRacing) June 15, 2016
Al Qubaisi, who is looking forward to repeating his 2014 podium performance, said: “The car balance is good, but clearly the other cars are faster. The Ferrari, Aston and Corvette are about two seconds faster and hence it will be tough to match their pace and beat them merely on speed.
“We will have to focus on staying out of trouble and out-smart our rivals on strategy.”
Following the three qualifications, Al Qubaisi added: “We are now hoping for cooler temperatures and some rain during the race as it will be to our advantage.”
Al Qubaisi, who was on the podium at Le Mans in 2014, is sharing driving duties with David Heinemeier Hansson of Denmark and Long of the US.
Organisers are expecting over 250,000 fans over the weekend at Circuit de la Sarthe.
