Toyota took home first place at the end of Free Practice 1 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The protagonists of the FIA World Endurance Championship and the guests from ACO returned to the Circuit de la Sarhte to face the first 180′ of activities that will serve to prepare for the weekend’s race, which is why the teams were divided between those who tried to push and those who instead focused on putting together more laps and data.
At the moment the sky was cloudy, with a few rays of sunshine trying to make their way through, but with cool temperatures and a light breeze which could play a role in the strategies of the Qualifying which will take place in the evening.
During the session there were some neutralizations with yellow flags, such as when Ben Keating (United Autosports #22) went wide at the Porsche corners without consequences for his Oreca LMP2, as well as for Rodrigo Sales’ spin at the first variant with the 07-Gibson #11 of Panis Racing.
However, there was a red flag 1h24′ from the end when Ferdinand Habsburg’s Alpine #35 stopped near the Dunlop Bridge, at the same time as Arnold Robin’s Lexus #78 had a problem along the ‘Hunaudières’ straight, forcing the commissioners to bring in the tow truck.
When operations resumed, a problem for the Ferrari #86 of GR Racing with Michael Wainwright at the wheel which stopped at the first chicane on the ‘Hunaudières’ straight; Slow Zone exposed for a few minutes and 296 black-orange removed by tow truck.
At the end, another red flag for the stop of the Oreca #183 of AF Corse, followed by a thrill run by Alex Lynn exiting ‘Tertre Rouge’, who ended up highside, touching the barriers with the front of his Cadillac, breaking splitters and attachments .
#12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: William Stevens, Norman Nato, Callum Ilott
Photo credit: Rainier Ehrhardt
In the end, the fastest in the HYPERCAR Class and on an overall level is, as we were saying, the Toyota #8, which took the lead about two-thirds of the way through the session with Brendon Hartley setting a 3’26″013 which allowed him to overtake the Porsche #12 of Jota for 0″597.
A nice improvement was made in the final laps by the BMW #15 and the Porsche #99 of Proton Competition, taking third and fourth place. Following, with 0″9 from the record, there is a trio made up of Toyota #7, Cadillac #2 and BMW #20 to complete the Top5.
Next we have the official Ferrari #50, also on the rise at the end, overtaking the two Alpines, who close the Top10 1.4 seconds behind the leader.
The 499P #83 of AF Corse is eleventh, keeping behind the Porsche #38 of Jota, the Cadillac #3 of Chip Ganassi Racing and the two official Porsches managed by Team Penske, in addition to the Ferrari #51 which is 1.7″ from the top.
The Peugeots finished 17th and 19th fastest, the Lamborghinis also behind, seeing the Iron Lynx team rebuild the SC63 #63 with a new chassis on Monday evening after having found some anomalies in the data collected in Sunday’s test, while the Isotta Fraschini she didn’t have any particular problems and concentrated on trying to put together the highest number of laps possible, with Antonio Serravalle working more than his other colleagues in this situation.
#14 AO by TF Oreca 07: Gibson: Pj Hyett, Louis Deletraz, Alex Quinn
Photo by: Nikolaz Godet
In the LMP2 class, a trio of PRO/AMs flies led by the little dragon ‘Spike’, the Oreca #14 of AO by TF driven by Louis Déletraz, who in 3’34″245 can smile, taking half a second off the Duqueine #30 and 0″ 6 at United Autosports USA #23.
Fourth fastest time for Proton Competition #9, while 1″ from the lead we find United Autosports #22, in a rather grainy ranking which sees Inter Europol Competition obtain sixth place followed by Idec Sport #28 and Nielsen Racing #24.
Among the top ten, enclosed in 2″3, there are also Cool Racing #37 and Vector Sport #10, the APRs do not particularly shine, finishing in 12th and 13th place, behind the DRK #33.
#87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3: Takeshi Kimura, Esteban Masson, Jack Hawksworth
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Fiery final also in the LMGT3 Class with the young Esteban Masson overtaking everyone at the very last attempt in 3’57″808, leading the Lexus #87 of Akkodis-ASP by 0″9 ahead of the McLarens #70 of Inception Racing and United Autosports #59 (+1″1).
Despite a short stop to reset at the end of the straight, the #27 Heart Of Racing Aston Martin hangs in fourth place, with the #86 GR Racing Ferrari behind which is the best of the 296.
The Lamborghini #60 of Iron Lynx finishes in sixth place 1″5 behind, as does the Ferrari #54 of AF Corse which follows it, keeping behind the Mustang #77 of Proton Competition and the Porsches of Manthey PureRxcing #92 and Manthey EMA #91, who are at the bottom of the top ten ahead of the #85 Lamborghini of the Iron Dames.
The 60′ Qualifying sessions are scheduled for 7pm, from which the best 8 in each category will emerge and will then compete in the Hyperpole on Thursday evening.
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