WEC: Ferrari 1-2 in thrilling Le Mans qualifying practice
Ferrari AF Corse took the two top spots in qualifying practice as the #50 Ferrari 499P driven by Antonio Fuoco sets 3m25.213s to top the timing screens in a session that in each of the three classes determined the top eight runners who advanced to tomorrow’s all-important Hyperpole
Fuoco’s time was just 0.199s ahead of the sister Ferrari driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi.
The reigning LMGTE champion briefly had the top lap but was immediately beaten by his countryman Fuoco.
Toyota Gazoo Racing placed third and fourth with the #7 car, outpacing its sister machine as Kamui Kobayashi and Brendon Hartley set times respectively.
The session was red-flagged on two occasions. The first stoppage resulted from a collision between Filipe Albuquerque in the #22 United Autosports LMP2 car and the #36 Alpine ELF Team car driven by Matthieu Vaxiviere.
The second red flag was flown for an accident at the Indianapolis corner involving the #37 Cool Racing Oreca-Gibson of Malte Jakobsen.
In addition to the top four, #5 and #75 Porsche Penskes cars and #3 and #2 Cadillac Racing entries made it to the Hyperpole session.
#38 Jota Porsche 963 stopped on the circuit in the early part of the one-hour session. The car returned to the pits for repairs on the hybrid system before it went out again only for the issue to reoccur.
The fastest among the non-hybrid Hypercars was the #708 Glickenhaus 007 of Romain Dumas.
JOTA IN CONTROL IN P2 AS ROVERA’S LAST GASP LAP SECURES AM POLE FOR RICHARD MILLE AF CORSE
#28 Jota settled into the class lead early on as Pietro Fittipaldi scorched to a best lap of 3m34.751s. The Brazilian’s time turned out to be good enough to top the session.
Second-best was the #41 WRT entry with last year’s polesitter Louis Deletraz behind the wheel.
#63 Prema Racing’s entry rounded out the top three, owing to Mirko Bortolotti’s last-minute effort.
Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari took last gasp fastest lap with Alessio Rovera setting the best lap of 3m51.877s to secure LMGTE Am class pole position.
#54 AF Corse Ferrari makes it a 1-2 for the “Prancing Horse” with Davide Rigon lapping just 0.022s shy of Rovera.
Points leading #33 Corvette Racing entry underwent rapid repairs after the free practice accident of Nicolas Varrone, allowing Nicky Catsburg to round up the top three.
Iron Dames had a tough session as Michelle Gatting spun into the gravel at Dunlop Chicane.
Entered as part of Garage 56’s innovative car class, Hendrick Motorsports-run Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 completed the session with its best lap being Mike Rockenfeller’s 3m47.976s which gave the car 38th position overall.
