LM24: Toyota tops FP1; Aston Martin quickest in LMGTE Pro
The first track action at the 24 Hours of Le Mans has taken place in warm and sunny conditions for Free Practice 1.
A total of 59 cars are taking part in the 88th running of Le Mans, with 28 of the teams entered eligible to score points for round 7 of FIA WEC Season 8. A total of 50 points are available at this race for the winning crew in each category, making Le Mans crucial in the overall championship title fight.
FP1 was relatively trouble-free with one safety car as a result of debris at the pit entry plus a 20-minute red flag after the No. 89 Team Project 1 entry went off at Indianapolis.
Below are the main headlines from all four categories.
LMP1
• No. 8 Toyota driven by Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley tops FP1 as Nakajima clocks a time of 3:21.656 towards the end of the three-hour test session
• Nakajima’s time 0.334s quicker than the No. 8 sister Toyota TS050 Hybrid shared by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose-Maria Lopez
• Rebellion Racing’s No. 1 and No. 3 entries third and fourth fastest, both cars completing a total of 33 laps behind the wheel of the Rebellion R13 Gibson car
• No. 4 ByKolles Racing Team entry rounds out the top five, the Austrian squad setting a best lap time of 3:28.442 in the Enso CLM P1/01
2020 @24hoursoflemans FP1 result
— WEC (@FIAWEC) September 17, 2020
🟥 #8 @Toyota_Hybrid 3:21.656
🟦#33 @HighClassRacing 3:29.873
🟩#97 @AMR_Official 3:53.930
🟧#98 @AMR_Official 3:55.484#WEC #LeMans24 #24hUnited #WECRacesForYou pic.twitter.com/m8Pwr0pV4e
LMGTE Pro
• Aston Martin Racing locked out the two fastest times in the LMGTE Pro category
• No. 97 car leads No. 95 sister Aston Martin Vantage AMR entry – the former clocking a time of 3:53.930 with Briton Alex Lynn at the wheel
• AF Corse third and fourth fastest with the No. 51 and No. 71 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO entries
LMP2
• No. 33 High Class Racing entry topped the times in FP1 out of the 24 LMP2 entries competing at Le Mans
• The ORECA 07 Gibson entry driven by Kenta Yamashita, Mark Patterson and and Anders Fjordbach clocked the category-topping time of 3:29.873
• Second fastest was the No. 29 Racing Team Nederland, 0.045s adrift of High Class Racing
• Rounding out the top three in FP1 was JOTA’s No. 38 car equipped with Goodyear tyres
Greeeeeeen! FP1 is go at Le Mans, let’s hit that legendary track. #WEC #LeMans24 @24hoursoflemans pic.twitter.com/wFaQfSLGXr
— WEC (@FIAWEC) September 17, 2020
LMGTE Am
• Ross Gunn in the No. 98 Aston Matin Racing entry clocked the fastest lap out of the LMGTE Am entries with a time of 3:55.484
• Third fastest – and second out of the WEC entries – was the No. 70 MR Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo entry. Fourth overall (and third in WEC) was TF Sport in another Aston Martin Vantage
Click HERE for full times from FP1.
Free practice 2 gets underway at 14h00 CEST before the Le Mans qualifying sessions begin at 17h15.
