Le Mans FP3: Fuoco fastest for Ferrari; United Autosports McLaren tops LMGT3

Below are the main headlines from Free Practice 3 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, round four of FIA WEC.

Hypercar

  • No.50 Ferrari 499P as Antonio Fuoco stops clocks on a 3m27.283s best ahead of the Kevin Estre driven No.6 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar on a 3m28.391s as field concentrates on race set-ups ahead of this weekend’s big race
  • But the No.6 Porsche though also gains a 5-minute stop/go penalty for a Full Course Yellow procedure infraction
  • Dries Vanthoor, who set the best qualifying practice time on Wednesday evening, places third in the BMW M Team V8 Hypercar as he peaks on a 3m27.432s
  • No.3 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R which continues strong form from the American manufacturer in the hands of Sebastien Bourdais as he places fourth
  • Toyota Gazoo Racing end session fifth and eighth as No.7 heads the No.8 GR010 Hybrid Hypercar
  • Between the two Toyotas is the No.2 Cadillac and the No.311Action Express IMSA regular runner driven by Pipo Derani, Felipe Drugovich and Jack Aitken
  • Rounding out the top ten is the No.4 Porsche Penske 963 as Felipe Nasr sets time and No.36 Alpine A424 which will now take part in this evenings Hyperpole session
  • The No.12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 which crashed in the hands of Callum Ilott in FP2 last night is being built up around a fresh chassis for the race this weekend. It is scheduled to shakedown at the local airfield ahead of Saturday

LMGT3

  • McLaren head the way in LMGT3 as the No.59 car tops the times thanks to a lap of 3m57.558 by Gregoire Saucy. But the car ends its session in the second hour in the Tertre Rouge barriers after Saucy’s teammate James Cottingham loses control and backs car in to tyres
  • Saucy’s best is just 0.006s faster than Franck Perera’s best effort in the No.60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini LMGT3 car
  • Third in class is the GR Racing Ferrari driven by Daniel Serra, Riccardo Pera and Michael Wainwright after the British team completed repairs after experiencing technical difficulties yesterday
  • Top six in LMGT3 is completed by the No.777D’Station Aston, No.95 United Autosport McLaren and No.77 Proton Ford Mustang
  • Hitting trouble in the FP3 session is the Inception McLaren which stops as it enters the Mulsanne straight with Frederik Schandorff being forced to pull off the track after completing just four laps

LMP2

  • No.65 Panis Racing tops the times in LMP2 as Matthias Beche pushes to a best lap of 3m37.217s. But he also ends the session in the gravel trap at Indianapolis Corner in the final hour
  • Earlier the car had encountered issues as Beche’s teammate Rodrigo Sales nudged the barriers at the exit of the Ford Chicane but with little damage
  • Beche’s time is 0.017s ahead of the No.47 Cool Racing Oreca-Gibson as Frederik Vesti sets time on his Le Mans debut
  • AO by TF Sport ‘Spike’ car is third as Louis Deletraz sets late lap, while the AF Corse entry of Francois Perrodo, Ben Barnicoat and Nicolas Varrone takes fourth, although ends session slow on track
  • Patrick Pilet puts the Vector Sports car fifth, while the IDEC car rounds out the top six

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