24H Le Mans Free Practice session: Porsche and Toyota tight at the top
Despite it being a free practice session and the times not counting towards grid positions, both Porsche and Toyota showed their intent to challenge for pole position.
Despite it being a free practice session and the times not counting towards grid positions, both Porsche and Toyota showed their intent to challenge for pole position. Neel Jani in the No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid claimed the top of the time sheets with a lap of 3:20.362, set just five minutes before the end of the four-hour practice, six tenths of a second ahead of Kamui Kobayashi’s No.7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID.
In LMP2 the WEC’s G-Drive Racing, Vaillante Rebellion and Jackie Chan DC Racing teams took the top three positions in the very competitive category, with the No.26 ORECA 07 of Alex Lynn setting an impressive 3:30.363, 1.3 seconds faster than the No.13 Vaillante car which edged its sister car by just a tenth.
Ferrari and Aston Martin shared the first four positions in LMGTE Pro with Sam Bird putting the No.71 Ferrari 488 GTE in first place. His lap of 3:54.832 was near half a second faster than the No.97 Aston Martin Vantage in the hands of Darren Turner, with the No.51 AF Corse entry and No.95 Aston Martin taking the next two spots.
In the LMGTE Am class, the positions were reversed with Pedro Lamy in the No.98 Aston Martin Vantage breaking into the middle of the Pro times after a stunning lap of 3:56.082. DH Racing’s Ferrari was second, but the next WEC Am entrant was in 7th place. It should be stressed again that this is just free practice!
The first qualifying session takes place tonight from 22h00 to midnight with provisional pole positions at stake for all four classes.
All times can be found HERE
