FIA WEC

Victory at the season opener! Bachler shines in Doha

Klaus Bachler was able to celebrate with his team-mates.(Bild: FIAWEC - Porsche/Pure Rxcing )

Klaus Bachler has celebrated a success on his debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). The 32-year-old Styrian won the 1,812 km of Qatar in the GT3 class at the season opener on Saturday with his team-mates Joel Sturm (Germany) and Aliaksandr Malykhin (St. Kitts and Nevis). The trio crossed the finish line in a Porsche 911 GT3 R after 299 laps and almost ten hours on the Losail International Circuit with a lead of just 4.866 seconds.

The team led by the Austrian, who recently won the Asian Le Mans Series in the GT class, started the race in second place in the 18-strong field and finished just ahead of two Aston Martin teams. "Today is a really big day for me. Starting for the first time in the world championship and then winning straight away, simply fantastic. It was a tough battle and a long race," said a delighted Bachler.

Rossi fourth
Italian motorcycle legend Valentino Rossi was one lap down in fourth place on his WEC debut with his BMW team. The 40-year-old Richard Lietz and his team of three in a Porsche did not finish higher than 15th (+15 laps).

In the Hypercar class, the highest category, Alpine works driver Ferdinand Habsburg, together with the two Frenchmen Charles Milesi and Paul-Loup Chatin, was satisfied with ninth place out of 19 participants. The next stop on the eight-race WEC calendar is Italy, where the action continues on April 21 with the six hours of Imola.