WEC: Hartley fastest for Toyota in first Free Practice at Le Mans

Sport news Preparations for the first qualifying practice session this evening saw Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No.8 entry head the pair of Glickenhaus 007LMH Hypercars. Corvette similarly enjoyed a 1-2 in LMGTE Pro, while in LMP2 it was the No.23 United Autosports USA entry topping the times. LMGTE Am witnessed a good session for the ‘stars n stripes’ Weathertech Porsche entry as it led a pair of Aston Martins. Hypercar   No.8 Toyota is quickest as Brendon Hartley sets the best lap of 3m29.411s with 20-minutes of three-hour session remaining Kiwi heads No.709 Glickenhaus entry by 0.476s Franck Mailleux had led the pack by setting an early session flyer with a 3m29.917s The Frenchman’s time was just 0.021s shy of José María López's quickest time of last Sunday’s test day Pipo Derani made it a 1-2 for most of the session in the No.708 Glickenhaus 007LMH with a time just 0.185s from the sister car and was eventually placed third Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No.7 GR010-Hybrid Hypercar places fourth as Kamui Kobayashi peaks on a 3m30.403s Alpine ELF Team ends session fifth on a 3m32.075 set by Andre Negrao in WEC points leading entry LMGTE Pro   Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner claims best free practice time for American entered squad as No.64 car heads stablemates in No.63 entry Milner’s 3m53.360s set early in session heads Antonio Garcia’s 3m54.339s effort in No.63 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R No.92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 third as 3m54.552s set by Michael Christensen stands as the fastest Porsche lap Gimmi Bruni’s 3m54.081s in the final hour sees Porsche GT Team place third and fourth Antonio Fuoco sets fifth-best time in LMGTE Pro aboard No.52 AF Corse Ferrari Sixth in class is Riley-entered Ferrari 488 GTE Evo as former Ferrari factory driver Sam Bird sets the best lap of 3m54.601s Problems for Spa winning No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo as car spends the majority of the session in pit box due to a technical issue, but James Calado manages to set seventh-best time in class in final 15 minutes of the session LMP2    Alex Lynn stops clocks on a 3m30.238s best to take the best lap in LMP2 for the No.23 United Autosports USA entry he shares with Oliver Jarvis and youngest ever participant at Le Mans, Joshua Pierson Antonio Felix da Costa blasts to a late set second-fastest time in the final minutes of the session in No.38 JOTA car with a 3m31.624s Lap helps to soothe earlier difficulties after Will Stevens went off at first Mulsanne chicane and had to be towed from the gravel trap No.9 Prema Orlen Team third as Robert Kubica sets an early flyer of 3m31.881s 2021 LMP2 winners WRT fourth quickest as Spa sensation Robin Frijns sets 3m32.158 best Vector Sport also loses time in session after Ryan Cullen stops just after Dunlop bridge and has to be retrieved under Full Course Yellow No.35 Ultimate entry of Mathieu Lahaye has an early incident and damages the rear of the car but makes it back to the pits The incident for No.45 Algarve Pro entry in final moments sees heavy damage inflicted by Steven Thomas at the final chicane LMGTE Am    No.79 Weathertech Porsche heads LMGTE Am with Julien Andlauer’s rapid 3m55.082 is almost a full second ahead of the competition in the bumper 23-car category GR Racing make it a Porsche 1-2 as British entered car places second with Ben Barker lapping in an impressive 3m55.941s TF Sport Aston Martin third as Marco Sorensen peaks with a 3m55.997s to head former teammate Nicki Thiim in No.98 Northwest AMR car D’Station Aston Martin makes it three Vantages in the top five as Tomonobu Fuji sets the quickest lap World Endurance Championship 24 Hours of Le Mans WEC WEC SEASON 2022 Sport Circuit 1SportWorld Endurance ChampionshipCircuitWECSEASON 202224 Hours of Le MansWEC01 Wednesday, June 8, 2022 - 6:13pm Wednesday, June 8, 2022 - 6:13pm