WEC: Toyota LMP1 sets the pace on day one at Interlagos

Sao Paulo, Fri 30th 2013 – Despite being third fastest in the second Free Practice session the Toyota TS030 of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Stephane Sarrazin ended the opening day as the quickest car at the Interlagos circuit ahead of Sunday’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, Round 4 of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The nr26 G Drive Oreca-Nissan of John Martin, Mike Conway and Roman Rusinov was the top car in LMP2 afterMike Conway secured the only 1 minute 27 second lap in the class.

Free Practice 1 Report :-

Sunny skies and temperatures of 23 degrees greeted the 28 FIA World Endurance Championship cars in Brazil. The nr8 Toyota TS030 of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Stephane Sarrazin set the fastest time in the first track session of the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo weekend at Interlagos. Davidson’s time of 1m21.881 was eight tenths faster than his closest rival, the nr1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of reigning world champions Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler. The sole LMP1 Privateer entry from Rebellion Racing was fourth fastest behind the nr2 Audi, 3.6 seconds adrift of the lead Toyota.

In LMP2 it was a very close session with the top six cars covered by just 1 second. It was a 1-2 for the Oak Racing team with the nr24 Morgan-Nissan of Olivier Pla, Alex Brundle and David Heinemeier-Hansson taking the top spot in the class with Pla setting a 1m28.136 lap, just 0.124 ahead of his teammates in the nr35 car, with Martin Plowman setting the best time. The nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca Nissan of Luis Perez Companc, Nicolas Minassian and Pierre Kaffer was just 0.1 seconds behind the two Oak Racing Morgans and top four was rounded out by the nr26 G-Drive Racing Oreca, just 0.799 seconds behind the fastest car in the class.

Free Practice 2 Report :-

The second 90-minute Free Practice session was run in slightly higher temperatures than the morning session, with the temperature gauge standing at 25 degrees as the cars headed out on track. At the end of the day the nr2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro was at the top of the timing sheets thanks to a 1m21.904 lap by Tom Kristensen but 0.023 seconds slower than the top time set by Anthony Davidson in the Toyota TS030 hybrid in the morning Free Practice session. The nr1 Audi finished second with a time of 1m22.056, just 0.152 seconds slower than their teammates. The Toyota’s best time was 1m22.675 but the team continued to set consistent laps despite a report of smoke coming from the rear of the car midway through the session. The Rebellion Lola Toyota improved during the afternoon, finishing the afternoon with a time 1.3 seconds better than at the end of the morning session.

The LMP2 continues to be the most hotly contested class and the best time of the day was set by the nr26 G-Drive Racing Oreca, with Mike Conway posting a 1m27.642 lap, 0.4 seconds ahead of the nr35 Oak Racing Morgan of Bertrand Baguette and a further 0.4 seconds quicker than the nr25 Delta ADR Oreca-Nissan of James Walker. The nr24 Oak Racing Morgan, which was the fastest car of the morning session, could only managed 4th fastest in the afternoon, finishing one second behind the G-Drive Oreca.

CLICK HERE for the results from Free Practice Two

The teams are now preparing the cars for the final Free Practice session, which takes place at 10:20 (local) tomorrow morning and this is followed by qualifying at 14:35 for the LMGTE classes and 15:10 for the LMP competitors.

LMGTE

Free Practice 1:-

The first 90 minutes of practice has now been and gone, and the many drivers new to the Interlagos track have had their first opportunity to find their way around.  With warmer track conditions expected tomorrow and on race day, all the drivers and engineers will be anxious to work on their car set ups today as well as assessing the different tyre choices available.

Aston Martin Racing topped the time sheets for both the LMGTE Pro and Am classes, with Darren Turner’s No.97 Aston Martin Vantage V8 claiming the quickest lap for the marque in the Pro category.  His time of 1:33.648 was half a second ahead of the No.92 Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR (1:34.160) which was in turn one tenth of a second in front of the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia (1:34.298).  It promises to be as close as always between world’s luxury car marques.

In the LMGTE Am category, there was a two-way fight for the top spot between the No.95 and No.96 Aston Martin Vantages of Jamie Campbell-Walter and newcomer to the Danish entry, Nicki Thiim.  The Dane eventually finished on top with a best time of 1:35.287, just 0.05seconds ahead of the British driver.   The fastest Ferrari 458, No.61 8Star Motorsports, ended the day in third place with a best time of 1:35.554.

The combined grid of FIA WEC cars will be back on track for a second 90 minutes of free practice this afternoon at 15:40h local time.

Full results can be found HERE

Free Practice 2:-

As the sun slowly started to lower over the Sao Paulo skyline, so the second 90-minute practice session for Sunday’s fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship drew to a close.  All the teams and drivers have been out on track, with only the No.71 AF Corse Ferrari losing any significant time due to a technical issue, and lap times were slightly improved compared to this morning in the Pro class and by half a second in the Am category.

Aston Martin Racing continued in the same impressive manner in which they began the day, and a British-built Vantage V8 was at the top of the time sheets in both the LMGTE Pro and Am classes.  In the factory-led Pro category, Darren Turner once again was the man setting the pace in the No.97 entry with a best lap time of 1:33.451, just over four tenths of a second ahead of the No.99 Aston Martin of British driver Rob Bell and local hero Bruno Senna.  Bell’s time of 1:33.873 was in turn 0.034s in front of the No.92 Porsche of Marc Lieb (1:33.907), that time being set early in the afternoon session.  Aston Martin took three of the top four places in the LMGTE Pro classification.

In the LMGTE Am class, the top three were Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari.  The Danish No.95 Vantage V8 once again set the pace, Nicki Thiim being the man behind the wheel for the time of 1:34.775 – knocking half a second off his best time from this morning.  The No.76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of French trio Narac-Vernay-Bourret was next on the time sheets with a lap of 1:35.064, followed by the No.81 8Star Motorsport Ferrari 458 of Aguas-Potolicchio-Rigon.  Their time of 1:35.293 was a significant improvement on this morning’s times.

The 28 cars will take to the track again for a third and final practice session Saturday morning at 10:20h local time (15:20h CET), with qualifying taking place later in the day.