Toyota scares and scares at the same time in the third Free Practice session of the 1000 Miles of Sebring, where first the Japanese Hypercars gave a severe lesson to all their FIA World Endurance Championship rivals, and then shivered for a final crash .
In the last 60′ of track activity before Qualifying to be held in the evening, the G010 Hybrids produced an enviable showdown, continuing to significantly lower the limit.
In fact, it was enough to radio Kamui Kobayashi “Go for the qualifying lap” to see the #7 take the lead with a great 1’45″783 after a quarter of an hour from the start of operations, followed by 0″ 609 from her #8 sister.
But 4′ from the checkered flag, José Maria Lopez lost control in the last corner of the #7 on the typical bumps of the US track, turning and hitting the outside barriers with his right side.
The red flag was displayed and the Japanese car appeared damaged especially in the bodywork and rear wing, so it will be necessary to evaluate whether the parts underneath were also damaged in the impact, such as the engine and gearbox. From this point of view, there are still several hours to fix things, given that Qualifying is scheduled for the evening, when it will be 11.30pm in Italy.
#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen
Photo by: Ferrari
Returning to the standings, the good news for Ferrari is the third time in 1’46″777 obtained by the #50 of Antonio Fuoco, even if his teammate Nicklas Nielsen spun in the grass without consequences in the final stages. on the other hand, she ranks seventh at 2″6, given the improvement of her rivals at the end.
Among these, in fourth place is the Cadillac #2 of Chip Ganassi Racing, which had to serve a 10′ stop as a penalty (rather questionable) for the bad move that saw Richard Westbrook send the Porsche #88 of Proton Competition to the wall in Free Practice 2 yesterday, causing his definitive withdrawal from the event.
The Peugeot #93 hoists itself into the Top5 at 2″1 from the leader, while Porsche Penske Motorsport takes sixth and eighth place for the 963 LMDh #5 and #6 with 2″5 and 2″7 behind the leader, keeping to the behind the Peugeot #94.
Glickenhaus #708 at 5″5 and Vanwall Vandervell 680 #4 remain at the bottom of the standings, even stopping when leaving the pits with a disconsolate Tom Dillmann complaining with a laconic “I’m out of power”, with the race direction decreeing the Full Course Yellow to allow the ByKolles Racing vehicle to be removed.
#28 Jota Oreca 07 – Gibson: David Heinemeier Hansson, Pietro Fittipaldi, Oliver Rasmussen
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
In the LMP2 class, the Orecas are always quite close, with the #28 driven by Jota still ahead in 1’50″128 with 0″090 on the 07-Gibson #22 of United Autosports.
Fourth is the other Jota (#48), closely followed by United #23 and the #63 of Prema Racing, with the Alpine #36 sixth at 0″3.
A little more detached from the others we find the #9 of Prema, while 1″ accuse the #31 of Team WRT, the #35 of Alpine and the #41 of WRT who complete the Top10, out of which remain the # 34 of Inter Europol Competition and #10 of Vector Sport.
#98 Northwest AMR Aston Martin Vantage AMR: Paul Dalla Lana, Axcil Jefferies, Nicki Thiim
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
All close also in LMGTE AM and, as we had predicted, Aston Martin comes from the rear by setting the reference time in 1’59″030 with the #98 NorthWest AMR driven by Nicki Thiim.
In less than a tenth of a second behind, the Porsche #86 of GR Racing, the Ferraris of Kessel Racing (#57) and AF Corse (#54) and the Corvette #33 also finished in the top five.
Sixth was the Porsche #77 of Dempsey-Proton Racing, 0″180 from the record, followed by the Ferrari #21 of AF Corse by a matter of hundredths.
Eighth and ninth times for the Porsches of Iron Lynx (#60) and Iron Dames (#85), the AF Corse Ferrari #83 closes the Top10. At the bottom of the standings, albeit with delays contained between 0″5 and the second, there are the Aston Martin #25 of Ort by TF, the Porsche #56 of Project 1-AO and the Aston Martin #777 of D’Station Racing , also the protagonist of a spin into the barriers when Satoshi Hoshino was at the wheel.
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