Silverstone WEC: Porsche edges Audi and Toyota in first practice
The new World Endurance Championship challengers from Porsche, Audi and Toyota were separated by just over six tenths of a second in first practice for the Silverstone opener
Marc Lieb topped the times in the best of the Porsche 919 Hybrids on a 1m44.042s, which put him four tenths clear of the fastest of Audi's latest R18 e-tron quattros in the hands of Loic Duval.
The quickest of the two Toyota TS040 HYBRIDs was third on a time just two tenths slower from Anthony Davidson.
The six factory entries, which blocked out the top positions at the end of the 90-minute session, were separated by just 1.1s.
The most eagerly-awaited sportscar season ever
Marcel Fassler ended up fourth in the second Audi, with Alex Wurz (Toyota) and Tim Bernhard (Porsche) filling fifth and sixth positions.
Lieb's time was eight tenths slower than the quickest time set in qualifying for last year's Silverstone WEC round.
The quickest of the two Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota B12/60s, which the team have pressed into service after its new ORECA-built R-One was delayed, was only four tenths behind Bernhard in Nicolas Prost's hands.
The LMP2 class, which is fought out by just four cars this weekend after a series of withdrawals, was led by Roman Rusinov in the OAK Racing-run G-Drive Morgan-Nissan.
His time of 1m51.004s put him seven tenths clear of Nicolas Minassian in the fastest of the two AF-run SMP Racing ORECA-Nissans.
Patrick Pilet blitzed the GTE Pro field in his factory Porsche 911 RSR with a time more than a second clear of his nearest rival.
His fastest time of 1m58.981s compared with team-mate Marco Holezer's 2m00.455s lap in the sister car and next best Toni Vilander's time of 2m00.519s in the quickest of the two AF Corse Ferrari 458s.
Sam Bird was quickest on his sportscar debut in GTE Am aboard his AF Ferrari.
Pos Cl Drivers Car Time Gap 1. P1 Dumas/Jani/Lieb Porsche 1m44.042s 2. P1 Kristensen/Duval/di Grassi Audi 1m44.470s +0.428s 3. P1 Davidson/Nicolas/Buemi Toyota 1m44.661s +0.619s 4. P1 Lotterer/Treluyer/Fassler Audi 1m44.717s +0.675s 5. P1 Wurz/Sarrazin/Nakajima Toyota 1m45.066s +1.024s 6. P1 Bernhard/Webber/Hartley Porsche 1m45.157s +1.115s 7. P1 Heidfeld/Prost/Beche Rebellion Lola-Toyota 1m45.593s +1.551s 8. P1 Belicchi/Leimer/Kraihamer Rebellion Lola-Toyota 1m46.418s +2.376s 9. P2 Pla/Rusinov/Canal G-Drive Morgan-Nissan 1m51.004s +6.962s 10. P2 Minassian/Zlobin/Mediani SMP ORECA-Nissan 1m51.743s +7.701s 11. P2 Bradley/Howson/Imperatori/Matsuda KCMG ORECA-Nissan 1m52.330s +8.288s 12. P2 Ladygin/Ladygin/Shaitar SMP ORECA-Nissan 1m52.538s +8.496s 13. GTE P Pilet/Bergmeister/Tandy Manthey Porsche 1m58.981s +14.939s 14. GTE P Makowiecki/Holzer/Lietz Manthey Porsche 2m00.455s +16.413s 15. GTE P Bruni/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 2m00.519s +16.477s 16. GTE P Griffin/Parente Ram Ferrari 2m00.803s +16.761s 17. GTE A Rugolo/Wyatt/Bird AF Corse Ferrari 2m01.210s +17.168s 18. GTE P Calado/Rigon AF Corse Ferrari 2m01.279s +17.237s 19. GTE P Turner/Mucke Aston Martin 2m01.853s +17.811s 20. GTE A Bachler/Ried/Al Qubaisi Proton Porsche 2m02.023s +17.981s 21. GTE A Cioci/Perez Companc/Venturi AF Corse Ferrari 2m02.033s +17.991s 22. GTE P O'Young/MacDowall/Rees Aston Martin 2m02.075s +18.033s 23. GTE A Potolicchio/Ruberti/Roda 8Star Ferrari 2m02.230s +18.188s 24. GTE A Collard/Perrodo/Vaxiviere ProSpeed Porsche 2m02.444s +18.402s 25. GTE A Poulsen/Heinemeier/Stanaway/Thiim Aston Martin 2m02.640s +18.598s 26. GTE A Dalla Lana/Lamy/Nygaard Aston Martin 2m02.964s +18.922s 27. GTE A Mowlem/Collins/Patterson Ram Ferrari 2m02.993s +18.951s
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments