WEC - FP1: NAKAJIMA QUICKEST FOR TOYOTA; ASTON MARTIN HEADS LMGTE PRO
The first track session of the 1000 Miles of Sebring event in Florida, Round 6 of the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship saw the nr8 Toyota Gazoo Racing car driven by Kazuki Nakajima sets a 1m41.957s lap to out-pace nr7 Toyota by 0.5s, with Jose-Maria Lopez setting the best lap.
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Nakajima set the best lap late in session after the team decide to concentrate on long run stints in preparation for Friday’s 1000 Miles of Sebring.
Rebellion Racing have mixed session as the nr1 R13-Gibson of Mathias Beche places third 1.5 seconds behind the lead Toyota, while the sister car’s mileage is limited due to a technical issue. The nr3 Rebellion recovered to set fourth fastest time in hands of American driver Gustavo Menezes.
Aston Martin set the pace in LMGTE Pro as Maxime Martin claims top spot with a best time of 1m58.044s in the nr97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage, the Belgian driver eclipsing the nr67 Ford GT best lap by 0.3s with Harry Tincknell at the wheel. Porsche GT Team make it three different manufacturers in top three in LMGTE Pro as nr91 just ahead of the nr92 stablemate.
Racing Team Nederland continued to build on their testing pace as Nyck de Vries posted the best LMP2 time in the Dallara-Gibson with a 1m47.835s lap. Signatech Alpine Matmut were second, with André Negrão setting a time of 1m48.346, just 0.44s ahead of the nr28 TDS Racing Oreca.
After setting the fastest LMGTE Pro time, it was a double top for Aston Martin Racing as the No.98 Vantage driven by Pedro Lamy posted a 2m00.043 lap to head the LMGTE Am category. Matteo Cairoli set the best lap in the nr88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche which was good enough for P2 in category just 0.009s behind Lamy’s best. The nr77 Dempsey-Proton Racing 911 places third as Matt Campbell set the best time just 0.027 behind his teammate and 0.036 behind Lamy.
LMGTE Am championship leaders Team Project 1 missed the 90-minte Free Practice 1 as the Porsche being re-built in the garage. A new chassis arrived from Germany after a big fire during testing on Sunday morning damaged the original car beyond repair. The team expect to be able to take part in second session later this evening.
Free Practice 2 is due to start at 19h45 (local) / 00h45 (CET).
Click here for the result from Free Practice 1