The second two-hour free practice session has now drawn to a close and the teams and drivers of the FIA World Endurance Championship are making their final preparations for qualifying for the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The top three overall were Porsche-Toyota-Audi which promises for an exciting qualifying!
German driver Marc Lieb set the fastest time overall in the No.14 Porsche 919 Hybrid he shares with Romain Dumas and Neel Jani, his lap of 1:59.887 being the first to dip under the two-minute mark today and, in fact, faster than last year’s pole position-winning average. Toyota’s No.8 TS040 Hybrid was second in the hands of Davidson-Buemi-Lapierre, 0.7s in arrears, and just one tenth of a second further back was the No.2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Fässler-Tréluyer-Lotterer.
Rebellion Racing’s brand new Toyota-powered R-One cars continued to have teething troubles, particularly the No.13 of Belicchi-Kraihamer-Leimer which has been plagued by electronic problems which have prevented it from turning a full timed lap. The No.12 of Prost-Heidfeld-Beche turned a reasonable number of laps but less than its competitors.
While the track remained dry throughout, there were two red flag interruptions for incidents which befell LMP2 cars. Victor Shaitar exited the track at considerable speed at Turn 3 just over half way through the session but fortunately climbed unhurt from his No.37 SMP Racing ORECA 03 Nissan. Also unharmed – both car and driver Simon Dolan – was the No.38 JOTA Sport Zytek Nissan which stopped at the exit of T4 and had to be removed to safety under the red flag. The No.26 G-Drive Racing Morgan Nissan of Rusinov-Pla-Canal was quickest in the class on track with a fastest time of 2:08.673.
The No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 4548 Italia of Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni re-asserted itself at the head of the LMGTE categories, lapping in a best time of 2:18.913 with the No.71 sister car of Rigon-Calado in second place in the Pro class. However, an impressive performance from the three LMGTE Am cars – the Proton Porsche and Ferraris from 8Star Motorsports and AF Corse – between the two from the Italian team can’t be ignored. Klaus Bachler in the No.88 Porsche 911 RSR was the fastest of these three but the young German was chased hard by the two Italian cars, with only 0.053s separating them.
The LMGTE Pro and Am cars are first out on track for their 30-minute qualifying session at 19h20 this evening, with the LMP1 and LMP2 prototypes following at 20h00. If it remains dry we can surely expect a number of qualifying records to be broken today!
Full results can be found HERE
Fiona Miller
SESSION FACTS
16:23:21 In GTE Am #88 Proton Porsche was fastest from #90 8Star Ferrari and #61 AF Corse Ferrari
16:21:54 In GTE Pro #51 AF Corse Ferrari was fastest from #71 AF Corse Ferrari and #92 Manthey Porsche
16:20:34 In LMP2 #26 G-Drive Morgan fastest from #37 SMP Oreca and #38 Jota Zytek
16:18:54 In LMP1 #14 Porsche fastest from #8 Toyota and #2 Audi
16:17:46 Rebellion #13 has an electrical problem with data logger and cannot start engine
16:15:02 Chequered Flag
16:10:02 Rebellion R-One #13 has drive issues
16:05:28 2:10.116 fastest in LMP1-L for Heidfeld in #12
16:03:55 2:19.151 now fastest in GTE Am for Bachler in #88 Porsche
15:59:52 Fastest individual lap was by Di Grassi last year with 1:58.934 in Qualifying
15:51:00 2:19.603 for #71 Ferrari now fastest In GTE Pro
15:49:40 2:08.673 fastest now for Pla in #26 in LM P2
15:48:50 Lieb's time is quicker than pole time in 2013 which was 1:59.961 - though conditions cooler this year
15:46:29 1:59.887 for Lieb in #14 Porsche fastest overall
15:41:45 Green Flag
15:41:04 Session estimated to restart at 14.41
15:39:42 Jota Zytek #38 under way again and returning to pit
15:37:31 Jota #38 did not hit anything but stalled engine bringing out red flag
15:36:15 Red Flag
15:36:00 Spin for #38 Jota
15:34:25 2:09.031 fastest by Pla in #26 in LM P2
15:33:47 2:00.638 for Buemi in #8 now fastest overall
15:32:53 2:09.071 for Pla in #26 now fastest in LM P2
15:32:02 2:01.479 for Buemi in #8 Toyota now fastest
15:27:53 Viktor Shaitar reported OK after his accident in #37
15:26:20 Green Flag
15:23:20 Session will restart at 14.24
15:16:41 Viktor Shaitar in #37 was on his out lap - accident was just past Radillon - may be right rear suspension failure
15:14:04 Red Flag
15:13:52 Shaitar in #37 has accident
15:09:16 Final warning for Fassler in #2 Audi for respecting track limits
15:07:09 Toyota #8 in it's pit
15:06:08 Kristensen ready to go out in #1 Audi
15:03:23 Porsche's #14 and #20 still fastest from #1 Audi
14:58:57 Allan McNish watching free practice 2 from the Audi pits
14:49:08 Ferrari #61 spins in front of #12 Rebellion
14:46:14 2:11.781 fastest in LMP1-L for #12 Rebellion
14:44:54 Final warning for respecting track limits for #90 Ferrari
14:41:57 2:20.216 for #91 fastest in GTE Pro
14:40:52 2:01.480 now for Dumas in #14 fastest overall
14:39:41 2:09.100 now for Kyrill Ladygin in #37 fastest in LMP2
14:36:20 2:09.665 now fastest for #37 in LMP2
14:31:51 2:20.339 fastest in GTE Pro for #51
14:31:00 2:09.997 fastest in LMP2 for #37
14:29:56 Porsche #20 wheeled into it's pit
14:29:20 2:20.461 for #51 Ferrari fastest in GTE Pro
14:27:22 2:19.541 for #90 now fastest in GTE Am
14:26:16 2:19.603 for #90 fastest in GTE Am
14:24:45 2:10.381 for #27 Oreca fastest in LMP2
14:24:02 Cars #14 and #75 reported for speeding in pit lane
14:22:42 2:01.629 for Dumas in #14 Porsche
14:21:40 2:12.214 for #38 Jota Zytek fastest in LMP2
14:20:47 2:02.523 for Dumas in #14 Porsche
14:19:09 Track is dry and no rain
14:15:09 Green Flag
