It’s what everyone’s been waiting for! The 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship begins at the Losail International Circuit for no less than 10 hours of epic racing. And as always, I’m here to take you through it all!

The start was as frantic as could be, as Ferrari led 1-2 as they went side by side in turn one, BMW’s #15 car slipped back to third by turn three as in LMGT3 Mclaren led 1-2 ahead of Akkodis ASP’s #78 Lexus. That wouldn’t last long, as Arnold Robin swiftly set about snatching the lead, doing so on lap 4.

Thankfully everyone made it through without major incident sans Will Steven’s #12 Cadillac, now run by JOTA, clipping one of the Peugeots. Of the newcomers, Aston Martin and Mercedes both stayed right at the back of both Hypercar and LMGT3. 

The first real drama of the race came just 7 laps in, the #87 Lexus of Petru Umbarescu clipping AF Corse’s #21 Ferrari of Francois Heriau. The Lexus was far worse off, suffering substantial damage which saw it enter the garage after a puncture. To make matters worse, Umbarescu’s failed overtake copped his team a drive through penalty…while they were still repairing the damage in the pits. And just after in Hypercar, a charging Earl Bamber attempted a risky pass on LMGT3 traffic but made contact and spun off track, also involved was the #94 Peugeot. Bamber was running fourth but now slipped to 17th.

Porsche had struggled all weekend, and in the opening stages their #5 entry was forced into the pits with a slow puncture. Now, their best placed car ran a measly 13th with Laurens Vanthoor’s #6. On the restart from an FCY, the #15 BMW of Kevin Magnussen failed to come off the rev limiter and slipped down the order to ninth while in the confusion Alpine’s #35 of Ferdinand Habsburg took third from BMW’s #20 car. 

The #31 BMW of Yasser Shahin then became a victim of the battling Hypercars, being spun around by one of its own in Kevin Magnussen who was still struggling with persisting electronic glitches. Pitstops then beckoned, with Aston Martin’s Hypercars first to do so. The #009 entry suffered a misfire on exit and BMW’s #15 entry attempted to fix whatever electronic gremlin had surfaced.

Things got worse for the #009 car, as another chapter was written in the epic battle of drivers vs their doors. The gull wing of Marco Sorensen’s car flew open and was torn off by the wind forcing the team to repair it. The car returned to the track on lap 37, just before a FCY was called to recover the door from its earlier incident.

Toyota meanwhile had improved throughout the first hour, with both cars running 7th and 8th after the #8 had started almost dead last, while Earl Bamber had recovered from his earlier spin and was now up to fifth. It was still a Ferrari 1-2, with #51 leading #50 comfortably as both were far ahead of the field.

Out of seemingly knowhere the first official retirement was registered. The TF Sport run #81 Corvette was done after just over an hour, while Peugeot’s #93 and Iron Dame’s #85 Porsche both picked up drive through penalties for breaching Full Course Yellow procedure.

Coming up to the third hour its still Ferrari out front in Hypercar, while Mclaren and Lexus are locked in a duel for the lead of LMGT3. Earl Bamber’s somehow brought the #38 Cadillac back to third overall and Toyota are slowly making their way forward. Oh, and the #87 Lexus is still in the pits with a drive through penalty yet to be served.

It’s been a fantastic start to the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship!