WEC: Peugeot tops shortened Interlagos opening practice, Toyota quickest in FP2

FIA news FREE PRACTICE 1 #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 topped the times in a damp FP1 session at Interlagos as Nico Müller set the best time of 1:26.341s in the session that was curtailed by 40mins due to a red flag for an accident suffered by the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus LMGT3 car That time eclipses an early session best lap from Earl Bamber in the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar he shares with Alex Lynn The fastest Porsche 963 Hybrid Hypercar is third in the hands of 2013 6 Hours of Sao Paulo winner and current points table-topping driver Andre Lotterer Toyota place fourth with its #8 GR010 Hybrid Hypercar as Sebastien Buemi sets a best of 1:26.777s #83 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman and Yifei Ye ends the session in fifth place just ahead of the #20 BMW M Team WRT entry making it six different manufacturers in the top six places Rounding out the top 10 in FP1 is the #50 Le Mans winning Ferrari 499P, the #7 Toyota, #5 Porsche Penske 963 and Isotta Fraschini Hypercar   #59 United Autosports McLaren sets the fastest time in FP1 as home town hero Nicolas Costa peaks with a 1:35.881s best That time is just a mere 0.003s faster than Alex Riberas in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Fellow Aston Martin team D’Station Racing places third in the hands of Marco Sorensen in the car he shares with Clement Marin and Erwan Bastard #60Iron Lynx Lamborghini ends the session in fourth position ahead of the similar Iron Dames machine and the No,.55 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari completes the top six Arnold Robin in the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus LMGT3 crashes heavily at Turn 4 and brings out the red flag to end the session Robin is extricated from the car for precautionary checks and is being evaluated at the medical centre FREE PRACTICE 2 Sebastien Buemi, at a dry and bright Interlagos, set a best lap time of 1:25.727s in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar in a specially extended FP2 session The four-time WEC champion ensured Toyota held a slender margin over the sister #7 Toyota as Nyck de Vries sets a late time that is just 0.033s off Buemi’s best Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari AF Corse places third after setting a time a mere 0.010s off de Vries’s best in the final 15 minutes of the session #50 Ferrari AF Corse machine driven by Antonio Fuoco places fourth to give the front of the field a formation look between Toyota and Ferrari Cadillac Racing claim fifth on the timing screens with Alex Lynn driving to a peak lap of 1:25.869s in one of the only two cars in Hypercar to feature duos rather than trios in the driver line-up Hertz Team Jota placed its pair of Porsche 963 Hypercars in sixth and seventh positions with the #12 car shading the #38 entry by a mere 0.048s The #83 AF Corse Ferrari completes its eighth with young gun Robert Shwartzman powering to the yellow 499P’s best time of 1:26.131s Proton Competition take ninth quickest time in the #99 Porsche as Julien Andlauer sets time The fastest BMW M Hybrid is the #20 entry as Robin Frijns achieves the 10th best lap in Hypercar in the car he shares with Rene Rast and Sheldon van der Linde Two full-course yellow flag periods are only suspensions in action as debris has to be cleared from the track  #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus LMGT3 leads the way in LMGT3 as Jose-Maria Lopez peaks on a 1:35.725s lap in the entry he shares with Esteban Masson and Takeshi Kimura The fastest time for Akkodis ASP entry brings some joy to the team after being forced to withdraw the #78 sister car after the FP1 accident saw too much damage inflicted for the team to fix Arnold Robin is discharged from the local hospital after checks and returns to track to support the team Second is the #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini as Franck Perera continues his strong pace this season in the car he shares with Claudio Schiavoni and Matteo Cressoni #55 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari ensures there are three manufacturers in the top three positions as Alessio Rovera sets the fastest time TF Sport are fourth with its #82 Chevrolet Corvette as Daniel Juncadella claims the best time in British-run American muscle car Ian James in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin ends the session in fifth place and the quickest of the Vantage cars just outpacing the #95 United Autosports McLaren World Endurance Championship WEC Endurance WEC SEASON 2024 FIA Circuit 1FIAWorld Endurance ChampionshipCircuitWECSEASON 2024WECEndurance00 Friday, July 12, 2024 - 11:06pm Friday, July 12, 2024 - 11:06pm