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Autosport
Autosport
Rachit Thukral

Le Mans 24h: Toyota spins, goes fastest in FP2

Toyota beat Ferrari to the fastest time in the second practice session for the Le Mans 24 Hours on Wednesday night.

Kamui Kobayashi set a best time of 3m26.096s just seconds after the chequered flag dropped at the Circuit de la Sarthe to put the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid on top by over two-tenths of a second.

The first night session at this year’s Le Mans got off to a chaotic start, with the first 30 minutes featuring limited green-flag running.

Most notably, Kobayashi’s team-mate Nyck de Vries went over the kerbs at the Dunlop chicane and suffered a spin, leaving debris on track and prompting race control to trigger a full-course yellow.

The #44 Proton Oreca stopped on track at around the same time, before a problem for the #22 United Autosports LMP2 led to more double yellow flags around the track.

Amid the early drama, Brendon Hartley set the first sub-3m30s lap of the session in the #8 Toyota, before reigning champion Robert Kubica took over the top spot in AF Corse’s #83 Ferrari 499P.

WTR driver Filipe Albuquerque snatched the lead soon after, but the #83 AF Corse returned to the front at the end of the opening hour after Kubica posted a time of 3m26.316s.

#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica, Philip Hanson (Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt)

The FCY was deployed again with 30 minutes to go due to an incident at the second marshal post, before Dries Vanthoor caused another stoppage when he spun the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 at the Esses.

The #7 Toyota remained in the garage for the majority of the session following de Vries’ off, but the Japanese manufacturer sent the car back on the track in the final part of FP2.

In the final five minutes, Kobayashi dispatched the #83 Ferrari from the top with a time of 3m26.329s, before finding another two tenths on his final flyer to pull away at the front.

The #83 Ferrari, which failed to progress into Hyperpole in the evening, had to settle for second place, while the #101 WTR Cadillac held on to third, despite suffering an engine shutdown when Albuquerque rolled into the pitlane at the end of his stint.

Victor Martins propelled the #36 Alpine A424 to fourth place, hours after the sister #35 car topped the opening qualifying session.

Fifth went to the #12 Cadillac, but the Jota-run car didn’t have a smooth day, with Louis Deletraz slowing down towards the end of the session with technical problems.

Paul-Loup Chatin guided the #19 Genesis GMR-001 to sixth in the final minutes, leaving the #8 Toyota driven by Sebastien Buemi seventh on the timesheets.

Harry Tincknell ended up eighth in the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie, while the top 10 was completed by the two BMWs - Sheldon van der Linde in the #20 M Hybrid V8 leading the sister #15 machine of Vanthoor by just over three-tenths of a second.

The two factory Ferraris ended up 11th and 16th, with Nicklas Nielsen the fastest among the two in the #50 car.

Panis fastest in LMP2, BMW leads LMGT3

The #29 Forestier by Panis Oreca 07 led the way in the LMP2 class, courtesy of a 3m33.645s flyer from Louis Rousset.

The Frenchman’s time put him over a second clear of the chasing pack, led by the #4 CrowdStrike by APR Oreca driven by Laurin Heinrich.

AF Corse rounded out the top three, courtesy of a late flyer from Matthieu Vaxiviere.

In LMGT3, Darren Leung put the #32 WRT BMW M4 GT3 at the top of the timesheets in the first hour.

The Brit set a best time of 3m55.132s and ended the session over three tenths ahead of Rui Andrade in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Richard Lietz propelled Manthey’s #92 Porsche 911 GT3 to third place, leaving the #10 McLaren 720S GT3 of Marvin Kirchhofer in fourth.

FP2

All Stats
Cla Team # Drivers Car Laps Time Interval km/h
1 Toyota Racing HYPERCAR 7 United Kingdom M. Conway Japan K. Kobayashi Netherlands N. de Vries Toyota TR010 Hybrid 26

3'26.096

238.013
2 AF Corse HYPERCAR 83 China Y. Yifei Poland R. Kubica United Kingdom P. Hanson Ferrari 499P 32

+0.220

3'26.316

0.220 237.759
3 Cadillac WTR HYPERCAR 101 United States R. Taylor United States J. Taylor Portugal F. Albuquerque Cadillac V-Series.R 30

+0.291

3'26.387

0.071 237.677
4 Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR 36 France F. Makowiecki France J. Gounon France V. Martins Alpine A424 30

+0.321

3'26.417

0.030 237.643
5 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR 12 Switzerland L. Deletraz United Kingdom W. Stevens France N. Nato Cadillac V-Series.R 31

+0.324

3'26.420

0.003 237.639
6 Genesis Magma Racing HYPERCAR 19 France M. Jaminet France P. Chatin Spain D. Juncadella Genesis GMR-001 30

+0.756

3'26.852

0.432 237.143
7 Toyota Racing HYPERCAR 8 Switzerland S. Buemi New Zealand B. Hartley Japan R. Hirakawa Toyota TR010 Hybrid 32

+0.816

3'26.912

0.060 237.074
8 Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR 007 United Kingdom H. Tincknell United Kingdom T. Gamble United Kingdom R. Gunn Aston Martin Valkyrie 29

+0.839

3'26.935

0.023 237.048
9 BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR 20 Netherlands R. Frijns Germany R. Rast South Africa S. Van Der Linde BMW M Hybrid V8 32

+0.907

3'27.003

0.068 236.970
10 BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR 15 Denmark K. Magnussen Italy R. Marciello Belgium D. Vanthoor BMW M Hybrid V8 27

+1.242

3'27.338

0.335 236.587
11 FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR 50 Italy A. Fuoco Denmark N. Nielsen Spain M. Molina Ferrari 499P 32

+1.256

3'27.352

0.014 236.571
12 Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR 009 Spain A. Riberas Denmark M. Sorensen Canada R. De Angelis Aston Martin Valkyrie 31

+1.370

3'27.466

0.114 236.441
13 Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR 35 Portugal A. Felix da Costa France C. Milesi Austria F. Habsburg Alpine A424 29

+1.449

3'27.545

0.079 236.351
14 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR 38 France S. Bourdais New Zealand E. Bamber United Kingdom J. Aitken Cadillac V-Series.R 26

+1.613

3'27.709

0.164 236.165
15 PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR 93 United Kingdom P. di Resta Belgium S. Vandoorne New Zealand N. Cassidy Peugeot 9X8 30

+1.735

3'27.831

0.122 236.026
16 FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR 51 Italy A. Pier Guidi United Kingdom J. Calado Italy A. Giovinazzi Ferrari 499P 31

+1.807

3'27.903

0.072 235.944
17 Genesis Magma Racing HYPERCAR 17 Germany A. Lotterer Brazil P. Derani M. Jaubert Genesis GMR-001 29

+1.976

3'28.072

0.169 235.753
18 PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR 94 France L. Duval Denmark M. Jakobsen France T. Pourchaire Peugeot 9X8 31

+2.377

3'28.473

0.401 235.299
19 Forestier Racing by Panis LMP2 29 L. Rousset E. Masson O. Gray Oreca 07 - Gibson 29

+7.549

3'33.645

5.172 229.603
20 Crowdstrike Racing by APR LMP2 4 United States G. Kurtz A. Quinn Germany L. Heinrich Oreca 07 - Gibson 31

+8.869

3'34.965

1.320 228.193
21 AF Corse LMP2 183 France F. Perrodo France M. Vaxiviere United Kingdom B. Barnicoat Oreca 07 - Gibson 30

+9.669

3'35.765

0.800 227.347
22 INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION LMP2 43 Poland J. Smiechowski France T. Dillmann United Kingdom N. Yelloly Oreca 07 - Gibson 26

+10.015

3'36.111

0.346 226.983
23 Proton Competition LMP2 9 Germany J. Ried Japan K. Ohta H. King Oreca 07 - Gibson 28

+10.176

3'36.272

0.161 226.814
24 IDEC SPORT LMP2 28 France P. Lafargue V. Rinicella Netherlands J. Van Uitert Oreca 07 - Gibson 28

+10.220

3'36.316

0.044 226.768
25 TDS Racing LMP2 14 Canada T. Lutke Switzerland M. Beche France K. Estre Oreca 07 - Gibson 29

+10.261

3'36.357

0.041 226.725
26 DUQUEINE TEAM LMP2 30 France D. Pin France J. Andlauer Netherlands R. Verschoor Oreca 07 - Gibson 26

+10.545

3'36.641

0.284 226.428
27 CLX Motorsport LMP2 37 A. Closmenil I. Aguilera T. Jensen Oreca 07 - Gibson 28

+10.602

3'36.698

0.057 226.368
28 NIELSEN RACING LMP2 24 Denmark D. Heinemeier Hansson E. Pearson Australia J. Doohan Oreca 07 - Gibson 29

+10.866

3'36.962

0.264 226.093
29 United Autosports LMP2 222 Brazil D. Schneider United Kingdom B. Hanley United Kingdom O. Jarvis Oreca 07 - Gibson 27

+11.161

3'37.257

0.295 225.786
30 AO by TF LMP2 99 United States P. Hyett Australia J. Allen United States D. Cameron Oreca 07 - Gibson 27

+11.194

3'37.290

0.033 225.751
31 Algarve Pro Racing Team LMP2 25 M. Jensen Italy E. Trulli United Kingdom J. Hughes Oreca 07 - Gibson 29

+11.381

3'37.477

0.187 225.557
32 INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION LMP2 343 United States B. Garg France R. de Gerus Switzerland N. Müller Oreca 07 - Gibson 28

+11.416

3'37.512

0.035 225.521
33 DKR Engineering LMP2 3 Canada J. Farano Spain S. Alvarez Netherlands R. van der Zande Oreca 07 - Gibson 26

+12.147

3'38.243

0.731 224.765
34 RD Limited LMP2 48 United States F. Poordad France T. Vautier France R. Dumas Oreca 07 - Gibson 30

+12.427

3'38.523

0.280 224.477
35 Proton Competition LMP2 44 Austria H. Felbermayr Jr. H. Felbermayr L. Fluxá Oreca 07 - Gibson 28

+12.875

3'38.971

0.448 224.018
36 VECTOR SPORT LMP2 26 Ireland R. Cullen Russian Federation V. Lomko Brazil P. Fittipaldi Oreca 07 - Gibson 30

+13.270

3'39.366

0.395 223.615
37 United Autosports LMP2 22 Sweden R. Lindh Switzerland G. Saucy Denmark M. Jensen Oreca 07 - Gibson 11

+16.325

3'42.421

3.055 220.543
38 TEAM WRT LMGT3 32 United Kingdom D. Leung Indonesia S. Gelael Brazil A. Farfus BMW M4 GT3 Evo 27

+29.036

3'55.132

12.711 208.621
39 IRON LYNX LMGT3 61 Australia M. Berry Portugal R. Andrade Belgium M. Martin Mercedes AMG GT3 25

+29.392

3'55.488

0.356 208.306
40 The Bend Manthey LMGT3 92 Australia Y. Shahin Italy R. Pera Austria R. Lietz Porsche 911 GT3 R 26

+29.436

3'55.532

0.044 208.267
41 Garage 59 LMGT3 10 A. Au T. Fleming Germany M. Kirchhofer McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 23

+29.475

3'55.571

0.039 208.232
42 Vista AF Corse LMGT3 21 France F. Heriau France S. Mann Italy A. Rovera Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo 27

+29.487

3'55.583

0.012 208.222
43 Heart of Racing Team LMGT3 23 G. Newell Brazil D. Barrichello United Kingdom J. Adam Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 28

+29.633

3'55.729

0.146 208.093
44 Manthey DK Engineering LMGT3 91 J. Cottingham Russian Federation T. Boguslavskiy Turkey A. Güven Porsche 911 GT3 R 26

+29.681

3'55.777

0.048 208.050
45 Vista AF Corse LMGT3 54 Switzerland T. Flohr Italy F. Castellacci Italy D. Rigon Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo 28

+29.719

3'55.815

0.038 208.017
46 IRON LYNX LMGT3 79 J. Zelger Italy M. Cressoni Netherlands L. Hodenius Mercedes AMG GT3 25

+29.742

3'55.838

0.023 207.997
47 AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3 78 Belgium T. Rompuy H. David United Kingdom J. Hawksworth Lexus RC F GT3 23

+29.877

3'55.973

0.135 207.878
48 TF Sport LMGT3 33 United States B. Keating United Kingdom J. Edgar Netherlands N. Catsburg Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 27

+30.100

3'56.196

0.223 207.681
49 Kessel Racing LMGT3 57 Japan T. Kimura C. Laursen Brazil D. Serra Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo 26

+30.229

3'56.325

0.129 207.568
50 Racing Spirit of Leman LMGT3 59 France C. Mateu M. Fossard France V. Hasse-Clot Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 28

+30.285

3'56.381

0.056 207.519
51 Racing Team Turkey by TF LMGT3 34 P. Dempsey Turkey S. Yoluc Ireland C. Eastwood Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 25

+30.361

3'56.457

0.076 207.452
52 Heart of Racing Team LMGT3 27 United Kingdom I. James Canada Z. Robichon Italy M. Drudi Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 28

+30.391

3'56.487

0.030 207.426
53 TEAM WRT LMGT3 69 United States A. McIntosh Canada P. Thompson D. Harper BMW M4 GT3 Evo 28

+30.496

3'56.592

0.105 207.334
54 RICHARD MILLE AF CORSE LMGT3 150 Brazil C. Toledo France L. Wadoux R. Agostini Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo 28

+30.512

3'56.608

0.016 207.320
55 Kessel Racing LMGT3 74 D. Blattner Italy L. Patrese Algeria D. Marschall Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo 28

+30.665

3'56.761

0.153 207.186
56 AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3 87 R. Umbrarescu Austria C. Schmid Argentina J. Lopez Lexus RC F GT3 25

+30.670

3'56.766

0.005 207.181
57 13 Autosport LMGT3 13 Canada O. Fidani Germany L. Kern United Kingdom M. Bell Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 26

+30.671

3'56.767

0.001 207.180
58 Proton Competition LMGT3 88 Italy S. Gattuso Italy G. Levorato United States L. Sargeant Ford Mustang GT3 26

+31.312

3'57.408

0.641 206.621
59 Proton Competition LMGT3 77 United States E. Powell United Kingdom B. Tuck S. Priaulx Ford Mustang GT3 28

+31.460

3'57.556

0.148 206.492
60 TF Sport LMGT3 2 J. Ibrahim L. Nicolas Hanafin B. Green Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 26

+31.758

3'57.854

0.298 206.234
61 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx LMGT3 62 A. Ali Al-Khelaifi Germany J. Hanses France G. Alesi Mercedes AMG GT3 23

+31.821

3'57.917

0.063 206.179
62 Garage 59 LMGT3 58 Sweden A. West Germany F. Gehrsitz B. Goethe McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 27

+32.244

3'58.340

0.423 205.813
View full results
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