Avalanche Andretti’s Norman Nato proved to be the highest-placed of the eight FIA Formula E drivers who raced in the opening round of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship.
The Qatar Airways Qatar 1812 KM was won by the Porsche Penske Motorsport #6 car, co-driven by Nato’s Andretti predecessor, German veteran Andre Lotterer, 33 seconds ahead of Nato’s #12 Hertz Team Jota. Second place appeared to be heading to the Peugeot TotalEnergies #93 co-driven by both DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne and ABT Cupra’s Nico Muller, but loss of fuel on the final lap robbed the French team of what would have been a bright start to the season. The #94 Peugeot with Vergne’s team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne at the wheel finished but in a disappointing 16th place.
Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries was next, helping his #6 Toyota Gazoo Racing home in sixth, with the #7 sister Toyota, co-driven by Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi, taking the chequered flag in ninth. Buemi’s Envision team-mate, Robin Frijns, helped the #20 BMW M Team WRT finish 11th. And lastly, de Vries’ Mahindra team-mate Edoardo Mortara helped to bring the #63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx back in 14th place.
After the race, Nato praised what he noted as a “strong start” to his WEC season, saying on Instagram: “Couldn’t asked [sic] for much more for a first race in Hypercar.
“Almost two weeks spend [sic] in Qatar to prepare and get this result.
“Thanks to the team and my team mates for the super work.”
Vergne, however, lamented a “heartbreaking” result, posting on X: “But that’s motorsport and we will rise from this.
“We have shown as a team what we can do, my team mates @nico.mueller51 and @mikkeljansen were absolutely incredible.”
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