WEC Spa: Porsche pips Ferrari to lead FP2 as Lexus stand-in heads GT3
On just his third lap of the session Estre produced a 2m04.162s in his #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 LMDh, putting him just 0.121s clear of the works #50 Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar in which Fuoco had topped Thursday’s earlier FP1.
Fuoco also set his time in the early minutes of the 90-minute session, and neither would be bettered – although Alex Lynn came close aboard the sole Chip Ganassi Racing-run Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh.
The Briton’s 2m04.341s lap was the only other time within two tenths of Estre’s benchmark and put him third in the leaderboard.
Kamui Kobayashi made it four different manufacturers in the top four positions with the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH. The Imola winner slotted in ahead of Callum Ilott’s #12 Jota Porsche, 0.721s off the pace.
Julien Andlauer was among the few drivers who didn’t set their best time in the early stages of the session and vaulted up to sixth in the #99 Proton Competition 963 ahead of Brendon Hartley in the second Toyota and Robert Kubica’s customer 499P operated by AF Corse.
Mikkel Jensen put the leading Peugeot 9X8 LMH in ninth spot, as the second works Ferrari driven by James Calado rounded out the top 10.
Following its impressive showing to end up third in opening practice, the sole Iron Lynx-run Lamborghini SC63 LMDh clocked the 11th quickest time in Daniil Kvyat’s hands, ahead of Phil Hanson’s Jota Porsche and the second Peugeot driven by Loic Duval.
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli, Daniil Kvyat
#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli, Daniil Kvyat
Photo by: Paul Foster
The best of the WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDhs ended up 15th, just ahead of the leading Signatech Alpine A424 LMDh with stand-in Jules Gounon setting the fastest time in the #35 entry on his second outing in place of the injured Ferdinand Habsburg.
The ASP-run Lexus RC F claimed top spot in the LMGT3 class courtesy of WEC debutant Clemens Schmid.
Silver-rated Schmid, a DTM regular in Lamborghini and McLaren machinery in recent seasons, is a last-minute replacement for an unwell Timur Boguslavskiy.
He set a benchmark time of 2m21.257s that proved 0.115s faster than Michelle Gatting’s Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan.
Valentino Rossi completed the top three aboard WRT’s BMW M4, ahead of Sebastian Baud in the TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
Three full course yellows interrupted the session, although two were to test race control procedures. The other was triggered when Darren Leung’s BMW was briefly stuck in the gravel at La Source.