Houthi Rebels Are Messing With World Endurance Championship Testing In Qatar

Image: FIA WEC

Yemen-based Houthi rebels have been lodging attacks against cargo ships traveling through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, attempting to disrupt global trade. It seems their attacks have been successful, as trade delays continue to mount and ships attempt to find other ways to their destination that don’t include a trip through the Suez Canal. With FIA World Endurance Championship pre-season testing scheduled to begin on February 24, almost half of the field has not yet arrived at the Losail Circuit in Qatar.

Max Burkholder’s First Car Was A Recall Nightmare

The Iranian-backed rebels have launched missiles and underwater drones at trade ships in an attempt to support Hamas through the ongoing warfare in Gaza. The Shia Islamist group says that all Israeli-affiliated vessels traveling along the Yemeni coast are “fair game” if Israel does not cease its attacks on Gaza, which have killed at least 15,500 Palestinians since the contretemps began in early October.

According to reports from Sportscar 365, the Chip Ganassi Racing-managed Cadillac V-Series.R cars have not yet arrived at the circuit from their recent private test in Italy. Likewise, the lion’s share of the new-for-2024 LMGT3 class is absent from Qatar.

“Due to ongoing disruption to the shipping route in the Red Sea, a number of shipping containers were delayed on their way to Qatar for the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship,” a WEC statement read. “The championship is expecting a 24-48 hour delay to some of the freight arriving at the circuit and keeping teams updated regularly on the progress. The schedule of the Prologue, therefore, may change and a decision is expected shortly.”

Of the 19-car LMGT3 class, only the TF Sport Corvettes, United Autosport McLarens, Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracans, and a single Proton Competition Ford Mustang have arrived. People on the ground believe that Proton and Iron Lynx chose to air-freight their cars over to Losail from the 24 Hours of Daytona last month. TF Sport and United Autosport were recently testing in Dubai, making the trip to Qatar much easier.

The recent Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai was recently postponed by two weeks, also attributed to Red Sea-related on-the-water shipping issues.

The FIA WEC pre-season test known as “The Prologue” is currently scheduled to run February 24 and 25. The first round of the championship, the strangely-named Qatar Airways Qatar 1812 KM is intended to run with qualifying on March 1, and the 10-ish-hour race taking place on March 2.