Free Practice 2 : Audi hybrids dominate
The second free practice session, which began 25 minutes late due to an incident in Radical Masters, one of the support races, was also been shortened after the Lola-Judd of Status GP left the track at the top of the steep slope of Eau Rouge.
The Audi hybrid #1 driven by Fässler, Lotterer and Treluyer, the winning trio of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2011, once again set the fastest time of the session with a lap of 2'03''075, credited to the German speaking driver, well known to fans of Japanese championship Formula Nippon and SuperGT. Allan McNish, Oliver Jarvis and Loïc Duval complete the top four, followed by former Formula 1 driver Nick Heidfeld in the Lola-Toyota #12 of Rebellion Racing.
Olivier Pla led the way in LMP2 with the Morgan-Judd #24 of OAK Racing with a time of 2'10'058, improving by nearly six tenths of the time achieved by Soheil Ayari before the lunch break. The Lola-Judd of Status GP occupied second place, (as it did in the first free practice session), before leaving the track. Third was the Oreca-Nissan #26 of Signatech-Nissan driven by Nelson Panciatici, a rookie in endurance racing who has adapted quickly to his new discipline.
Porsche took control of LMGTE Pro, with factory driver Marc Lieb, who set a lap time of 2'19''668. The German driver who holds a PhD, was the only driver in the class down below 2'20 despite repeated efforts of Darren Turner for Aston Martin and Gianmaria Bruni for Ferrari (AF Corse).
The domination of Porsche in the GT classes was total at the end of the afternoon, Nicolas Armindo climbing to the front of LMGTE Am for IMSA Performance Matmut with a lap of 2'21'' 874 or more a second ahead of the the #70 Corvette of Larbre Competition. The #88 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton was demoted to third position, having been fastest after the first session.
The cars and drivers take the track tomorrow morning for a final practice session before tackling qualification in the afternoon.
Dave Davies
Photo: FRANCORCHAMPS (LIEGE, BELGIUM), SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, FREE PRACTICE, Thursday, 3nd May, 2012. #81 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia was 3rd fastest of the session in LMGTE Am.