Le Mans Test session: Toyota on top at end of shortened morning session
With one hour of the first session at the 24 Hours of Le Mans test day left to run, in preparation for the second round of the WEC Super Season on 16-17 June, the second red flag of the morning was shown which brought proceedings to a premature halt.
An accident involving the No.95 Aston Martin Vantage, with Marco Sørensen at the wheel, was the cause of the shortened session. The Dane exited the track hard, was taken to the medical centre for checks but released soon after with no injuries. The session was not resumed as repairs to the guard rails were required.
Toyota Gazoo Racing and Rebellion Racing finished the session in the first four places, the Japanese marque in first and third.
Fernando Alonso made his debut by setting the best time in the No.8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID with a time of 3:21.468. Just 0.360 behind was Thomas Laurent in the No.3 Rebellion R13 – the young Frenchman very much at home back at Le Mans.
Mike Conway set the pace in the No.7 Toyota and proof of the fierce battle that is already playing out on track is that the first three cars are all within a second of each other.
In LMP2, the leading trio was composed of three ORECA 07s. The No.26 G-Drive Racing, winner at the Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, led No. 48 IDEC Sport with a time of 3:30.176 followed by No.31 DragonSpeed of Roberto Gonzalez.
It was Ford which showed its hand first in the LMGTE class, with the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing entries from the UK and USA taking the top four places. Andy Priaulx in the No.67 Ford GT from the UK arm of the Ford army set the pace with a best lap of 3:53.008.
In GTE Am, the No.61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari 488 GTE took top spot with Keita Sawa at the wheel.
To make up some of the lost time, the afternoon will resume 30 minutes before the scheduled time.
