‘It doesn’t feel real': Team Qatar gears up for historic Le Mans debut
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Team Qatar has officially launched its campaign for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, marking the country’s first-ever entry into the legendary endurance race. For driver Abdulla Al Khelaifi, the moment is both historic and deeply personal as Qatar takes another major step onto the global motorsport stage.
Qatar is preparing to take on one of the toughest and most prestigious races in motorsport history.
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Team Qatar has officially unveiled its race car and driver lineup ahead of next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, a landmark moment that will see Qatar represented at the iconic endurance race for the very first time.
The team will compete in the LMGT3 category with a Mercedes-AMG car through a partnership between the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) and Italian racing team Iron Lynx.
The car will carry race number 62 on the Circuit de la Sarthe, the 13.6-kilometre track outside Le Mans that has hosted the race since 1923.
For Qatari driver Abdulla Al Khelaifi, the reality of the moment is still sinking in. “This will be a historic milestone for the QMMF and Qatar also because this is the first ever participation in the world endurance championship and I will be the first Qatari to actually do it,” Al Khelaifi said.
“So it's kind of a big moment as well for me and doesn't feel real at all right now.”
Al Khelaifi, 35, won the 2025 24H Series Overall championship with QMMF and took victory at the 24 Hours of Dubai.
In the 2026 European Le Mans Series season, he became the first Qatari driver to take a pole position at the opening round in Barcelona, where Team Qatar finished fourth.
A race unlike any other
First held in 1923, the 24-hour event is considered the pinnacle of endurance racing.
Drivers rotate through day and night conditions with little room for error, while teams manage fatigue, strategy, weather changes and mechanical challenges throughout an entire day of racing.
German driver Julian Hanses says the preparation starts long before race week. “Every day I'm in the gym, every day I am on a bicycle,” Hanses said.
“This is the preparation you need to even perform better in the car while 40 degrees is inside the car and you still have to work hard physically.”
French driver Giuliano Alesi said endurance racing pushes drivers mentally as much as physically.
Alesi is the son of former Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi, who competed for Ferrari throughout the early 1990s and won the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix.
“There’s lots of things that need to be put in place regarding training, hydration, nutrition,” Alesi said.
“You’re not at your 100% when you drive at night," he explained, "so there’s lots of training that goes into that, not just physical, but also mental preparation.”
Building Qatar’s motorsport future
The Le Mans project has been years in the making. QMMF President Abdulrahman bin Abdullatif Al Mannai says the goal goes beyond a single race result.
The federation has spent the last three years developing local talent and creating a pathway for young Qatari drivers to compete internationally.
“Today, we have professional drivers who have a chance to compete in Le Mans,” Al Mannai said.
“For us, a small country like Qatar with a very big ambition to go to Le Mans and hopefully we will bring a trophy.”
The 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place in France on 13 and 14 June, where Team Qatar will compete alongside some of the biggest names in global endurance racing.
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