COTA FP1: Porsche Penske Motorsport and Vista AF Corse Fastest in First Session

HYPERCAR

• Track action begins as WEC returns to COTA for the first time in four and a half years for the 2024 Lone Star Le Mans event
• The No.5 Porsche Penske sets the pace as Matt Campbell posts a late flyer of 1m53.574s on the undulating and recently re-surfaced 3.426-mile circuit  
• Robert Kubica had set the early pace in the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P
• The pole peaked with a best lap of 1m54.034s that ultimately good enough for second best lap of the session
• No.38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche driven by Oliver Rasmussen is third just 0.017s away from Kubica’s best
• Antonio Fuoco in the No.50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P, which currently places second in the Hypercar driver points standings, is fourth
• Antonio Giovinazzi sets a late lap of 1m54.186s to places the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P in fifth position
• Home heroes Cadillac Racing place sixth as Alex Lynn pushes the V-Series.R Hypercar to a best time of 1m54.262s
• Title leading trio of Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor in the No.6 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar end session seventh as Estre improves in final 15-minutes
• The fastest BMW M Hybrid Hypercar is the No.20 machine as Rene Rast sets lap in car he shares with Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde to place eighth
• The second BMW, the No.15 car of Raffaele Marciello, Marco Witmann and Dries Vanthoor lap just 0.2s off sister car to place ninth
• Completing the top 10 is the No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hypercar with Nyck de Vries setting the best time
• The Interlagos winning Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa place a lowly 15th  
• Session has one early red flag for a race control procedural check and then a full course yellow period in final stages sees the recovery of the No.60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini after it stops on track 

LM GT3:

• Alessio Rovera set the early pace in the LMGT3 category with the VISTA AF Corse 296 he shares with Simon Mann and Francois Heriau
• Rovera’s 2m06.316s lap out-paces the No.88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang by 0.159s
• The No.88’s time is set by Dennis Olsen who will race with regular partner Mikkel Pedersen and new recruit to the team – double WEC LMGTE Am champion Ben Keating
• Proton Ford Mustang enjoy strong start to the action as the sister No.77 machine of Ben Barker, Ryan Hardwick and Zacharie Robichon. A 2m06.475s set by Barker sees the two Mustang’s separated by 0.2s
• TF Sport place their duo of Corvette GT3 cars in fourth and fifth positions as the No.81 entry heads the No.82 machine. Charlie Eastwood and Daniel Juncadella set the times respectively
• Completing the top six is the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 as Daniel Mancinelli sets a 2m06.872s best 

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