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Autosport
Autosport
Sport
Jamie Klein

Le Mans 24 Hours: Toyota fastest in first practice ahead of Cadillac

The two Toyota GR010 HYBRIDs locked out the top two positions during Wednesday afternoon's three-hour session, with Brendon Hartley setting the pace aboard the #8 car on a 3m27.742s.

That was almost two seconds up on the best time set in Sunday's official test day.

It was the sister #7 Toyota that led the way for most of the session, as Jose Maria Lopez punched in a 3m28.290s early on, going a tenth faster than Loic Duval in the leading Peugeot 9X8.

That was then bettered by Kamui Kobayashi, who lowered the bar to a 3m27.875s when the session was resumed following a red flag prompted by a crash at Tertre Rouge involving the #777 D'station Racing Aston Martin Vantage and the #13 TDS Racing-run Tower Motorsports LMP2.

Casper Stevenson had already suffered an off in the D'station car and was stranded in the middle of the circuit when Steven Thomas slammed into the side of the stricken Aston, leaving both cars badly damaged. The session was resumed after a 35-minute delay.

Hartley made his improvement with 23 minutes left on the clock to make it a Toyota 1-2, 0.133s ahead of Kobayashi, before the session was stopped for a second time with four minutes to go.

That was caused by another crash at Tertre Rouge, this time for the solo Corvette C8.R of Nico Varrone.

Jumping to third late on prior to the stoppage was the best of the Cadillac V-Series.R LMDhs, the #2 Chip Ganassi Racing-run car of Earl Bamber, who managed to get within two tenths of Hartley's benchmark with a 3m27.939s.

Next up were two Porsche 963s, with the #75 car of Felipe Nasr setting the fourth-fastest time ahead of Kevin Estre in the #6 car, both drivers coming within half a second of the pace. 

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Richard Westbrook (Photo by: Marc Fleury)

Peugeot's pair of 9X8 LMHs were sixth and seventh, Duval in the #94 car leading the #93 machine in which Mikkel Jensen set the best time prior to suffering a stoppage in the pitlane.

Ferrari, which had topped the test day with its new 499P LMH endured a low-key first practice session with Antonio Fuoco going eighth fastest in the #50 car, four places up on the sister #51 machine of Alessandro Pier Guidi.

Completing the top 10 were the #3 Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais and the remaining works Porsche, the #5 car of Frederic Makowiecki.

In LMP2, an early lap of 3m34.579s from Pietro Fittipaldi in the #28 JOTA ORECA was enough to top the session by just three hundredths ahead of the #37 Cool Racing entry piloted by Malthe Jakobsen.

Prema's #9 car recovered from an early incident in which it sustained rear wing damage to set the third-fastest time in the hands of Mirko Bortolotti.

Leading the way in GTE Am was the #55 GMB Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GTE of factory driver Marco Sorensen with a best time of 3m55.020s.

Riccardo Pera was second-fastest in the #86 GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19, three tenths behind, followed by Valentin Hasse-Clot in another Aston, the #72 TF Sport entry.

The Garage 56-entered Chevrolet Camaro ZR1 NASCAR Cup car was comfortably faster than the entire GTE Am field with a best time of 3m49.475 set by ex-Formula 1 champion Jenson Button.

#24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 of Jimmie Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller, Jenson Button (Photo by: Marc Fleury)

Early in the session, Robin Frijns survived an off at Tertre Rouge aboard the #31 WRT Oreca, albeit making contact with the guard rail.

Other LMP2 runners to hit trouble included the #35 Alpine LMP2 car, as Oli Caldwell crashed at the first part of the Ford chicane, and the #34 Inter Europol Competition machine, which broke down at the pitlane exit.

Also in the wars was the #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE in which Louis Prette suffered a head-on collision with the barriers at the Ford chicane, with that car not reappearing for the rest of the session.

First qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours begins at 1900 local time, while second practice follows at 2200.

Le Mans 24 Hours first practice results

 
Cla # Drivers Car Class Time Gap
1 8 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi
New Zealand Brendon Hartley
Japan Ryo Hirakawa
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid Hypercar 3'27.742  
2 7 United Kingdom Mike Conway
Japan Kamui Kobayashi
Argentina Jose Maria Lopez
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid Hypercar 3'27.875 0.133
3 2 New Zealand Earl Bamber
United Kingdom Alex Lynn
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook
Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar 3'27.939 0.197
4 75 France Mathieu Jaminet
Brazil Felipe Nasr
United Kingdom Nick Tandy
Porsche 963 Hypercar 3'28.150 0.408
5 6 France Kevin Estre
Germany Andre Lotterer
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor
Porsche 963 Hypercar 3'28.167 0.425
6 94 France Loic Duval
United States Gustavo Menezes
Switzerland Nico Müller
Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar 3'28.386 0.644
7 93 United Kingdom Paul di Resta
Denmark Mikkel Jensen
France Jean-Eric Vergne
Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar 3'28.533 0.791
8 50 Italy Antonio Fuoco
Spain Miguel Molina
Denmark Nicklas Nielsen
Ferrari 499P Hypercar 3'28.708 0.966
9 3 France Sébastien Bourdais
New Zealand Scott Dixon
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar 3'28.799 1.057
10 5 United States Dane Cameron
Denmark Michael Christensen
France Frédéric Makowiecki
Porsche 963 Hypercar 3'29.375 1.633
11 709 France Nathanael Berthon
Mexico Esteban Gutierrez
France Franck Mailleux
Glickenhaus 007 LMH Hypercar 3'29.617 1.875
12 51 United Kingdom James Calado
Italy Antonio Giovinazzi
Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi
Ferrari 499P Hypercar 3'29.845 2.103
13 708 Australia Ryan Briscoe
France Romain Dumas
France Olivier Pla
Glickenhaus 007 LMH Hypercar 3'29.991 2.249
14 38 Portugal Antonio Felix da Costa
United Kingdom Will Stevens
China Ye Yifei
Porsche 963 Hypercar 3'30.084 2.342
15 311 United Kingdom Jack Aitken
Brazil Pipo Derani
United Kingdom Alexander Sims
Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar 3'30.300 2.558
16 28 Brazil Pietro Fittipaldi
Denmark David Heinemeier Hansson
Denmark Oliver Rasmussen
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'34.579 6.837
17 37 Switzerland Alexandre Coigny
Denmark Malthe Jakobsen
France Nicolas Lapierre
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'34.611 6.869
18 4 France Tom Dillmann
Argentina Esteban Guerrieri
France Tristan Vautier
Vanwall Vandervell 680 Hypercar 3'34.923 7.181
19 63 Italy Mirko Bortolotti
Russian Federation Daniil Kvyat
France Doriane Pin
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'36.451 8.709
20 36 France Julien Canal
France Charles Milesi
France Matthieu Vaxiviere
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'36.471 8.729
21 34 Spain Albert Costa
Switzerland Fabio Scherer
Poland Jakub Smiechowski
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'36.796 9.054
22 31 Netherlands Robin Frijns
Indonesia Sean Gelael
Austria Ferdinand Habsburg
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'36.870 9.128
23 14 Switzerland Mathias Beche
United Kingdom Ben Hanley
United States Rodrigo Sales
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'36.941 9.199
24 923 United Kingdom Tom Gamble
Belgium Dries Vanthoor
Turkey Salih Yoluc
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'36.993 9.251
25 10 France Gabriel Aubry
Ireland Ryan Cullen
Liechtenstein Matthias Kaiser
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'37.223 9.481
26 30 Austria Rene Binder
Switzerland Neel Jani
Chile Nicolas Pino
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'37.305 9.563
27 43 Belgium Maxime Martin
Belgium Tom Van Rompuy
Belgium Ugo de Wilde
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'37.656 9.914
28 65 Netherlands Tijmen van der Helm
Venezuela Manuel Maldonado
Netherlands Job Van Uitert
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'38.047 10.305
29 47 France Reshad de Gerus
Russian Federation Vlad Lomko
France Simon Pagenaud
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'38.141 10.399
30 32 Denmark Anders Fjordbach
United States Mark Kvamme
Denmark Jan Magnussen
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'38.229 10.487
31 41 Portugal Rui Andrade
Switzerland Louis Deletraz
Poland Robert Kubica
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'38.234 10.492
32 39 Netherlands Giedo van der Garde
Italy Roberto Lacorte
France Patrick Pilet
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'38.463 10.721
33 48 France Paul-Loup Chatin
Germany Laurents Hörr
France Paul Lafargue
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'38.767 11.025
34 80 United Kingdom Ben Barnicoat
France Norman Nato
France François Perrodo
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'38.878 11.136
35 13 Germany René Rast
United States Ricky Taylor
United States Thomas Steven
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'38.898 11.156
36 9 United States Juan Manuel Correa
Romania Filip Ugran
Netherlands Bent Viscaal
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'39.266 11.524
37 23 United Kingdom Tom Blomqvist
United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
United States Josh Pierson
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'39.299 11.557
38 35 United Kingdom Olli Caldwell
Brazil Andre Negrao
Mexico Memo Rojas
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'40.411 12.669
39 45 Australia James Allen
United States Colin Braun
United States George Kurtz
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'40.817 13.075
40 22 Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
United Kingdom Philip Hanson
United Kingdom Frederick Lubin
Oreca 07 LMP2 3'41.249 13.507
41 24 United Kingdom Jenson Button
United States Jimmie Johnson
Germany Mike Rockenfeller
Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 INNOVATIVE CAR 3'49.475 21.733
42 55 Denmark Gustav Birch
Denmark Jens Reno Moller
Denmark Marco Sorensen
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 3'55.020 27.278
43 86 United Kingdom Benjamin Barker
Italy Riccardo Pera
United Kingdom Michael Wainwright
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 3'55.330 27.588
44 72 France Valentin Hasse-Clot
Arnold Robin
Maxime Robin
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 3'55.506 27.764
45 16 United States Ryan Hardwick
Belgium Jan Heylen
Canada Zacharie Robichon
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 3'55.573 27.831
46 60 Italy Matteo Cressoni
Belgium Alessio Picariello
Italy Claudio Schiavoni
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 3'55.624 27.882
47 98 United Kingdom Ian James
Italy Daniel Mancinelli
Spain Alex Riberas
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 3'55.632 27.890
48 83 Argentina Luis Perez Companc
Italy Alessio Rovera
France Lilou Wadoux
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 3'55.806 28.064
49 85 Belgium Sarah Bovy
Switzerland Rahel Frey
Denmark Michelle Gatting
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 3'55.883 28.141
50 88 Germany Jonas Ried
United Kingdom Harry Tincknell
United States Don Yount
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 3'55.972 28.230
51 25 United Kingdom Ahmad Al Harthy
United States Michael Dinan
Ireland Charles Eastwood
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 3'56.038 28.296
52 56 Italy Matteo Cairoli
United States PJ Hyett
United States Gunnar Jeannette
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 3'56.073 28.331
53 66 France Thomas Neubauer
Italy Giacomo Petrobelli
Louis Prette
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 3'56.085 28.343
54 911 Germany Michael Fassbender
Austria Richard Lietz
Estonia Martin Rump
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 3'56.159 28.417
55 74 Japan Kei Cozzolino
Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko
Japan Naoki Yokomizo
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 3'56.211 28.469
56 21 France Simon Mann
Belgium Ulysse De Pauw
France Julien Piguet
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 3'56.283 28.541
57 77 France Julien Andlauer
Germany Christian Ried
Mikkel Pedersen
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 3'56.457 28.715
58 57 United States Scott Huffaker
Japan Takeshi Kimura
Brazil Daniel Serra
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 3'56.477 28.735
59 54 Italy Francesco Castellacci
Switzerland Thomas Flohr
Italy Davide Rigon
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 3'56.548 28.806
60 33 Netherlands Nick Catsburg
United States Ben Keating
Argentina Nicolás Varrone
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R LMGTE AM 3'56.552 28.810
61 777 Japan Tomonobu Fujii
Japan Satoshi Hoshino
United Kingdom Casper Stevenson
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 3'56.961 29.219
62 100 Indonesia Andrew Haryanto
United States Chandler Hull
United States Jeff Segal
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 4'00.446 32.704
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