Toyota’s pair of GR010 Hypercars topped the time sheets throughout most of the first four hour track session for the 2021 Le Mans Test Day.
In the first hour, Jose Maria Lopez snatched a 3.32.201 in the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid. Less than two hours later, Mike Conway improved the #7’s fastest lap with a 3.31.986.
Olivier Pla in the #708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH (3.31.920) then took over the lead for a few minutes before Brendon Hartley topped the morning time sheets for good with the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid (3.31.263).
The #36 Alpine Elf Matmut A480 Gibson finished second in the session, only three tenths of a second behind the leading Toyota (3.31.519). The #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid shared by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez ended in third place, half a second behind the sister car (3.31.852).
The #708 Glickenhaus Racing driven by Olivier Pla, Franck Mailleux and Pipo Derani ended in fourth position, in the same second as the fastest Hypercar.
In LMP2, it was an undisputed 1-2 for United Autosports almost from the off.
The #22 Oreca 07 Gibson shared by Phil Hanson, Fabio Scherer and Filipe Albuquerque dominated the first half of the session and set its fastest lap of the morning (3.33.428). It concluded the session in second position after the #23 United Autosport’s Oreca 07 Gibson driven by Paul Di Resta took over the lead and kept it to the checkered flag with a fastest lap of 3.33.038.
The #41 WRT shared by Louis Deletraz, Yifei Ye and Robert Kubica ended in third position, some 1.1 seconds behind the fastest United Autosport Oreca 07.
There were several incidents in that category:
Dwight Merriman spun the #17 IDEC Sport Oreca 07 at the Ford chicane. Moments later, his car touched the #31 WRT Oreca driven by Ferdinand Habsburg at Tertre Rouge and suffered significant damage. The #17 was returned to the pits on a flat bed.
Roberto Gonzalez in the #38 Jota Oreca 07 Gibson suffered a left rear puncture which damaged the car’s bodywork and triggered a FCY episode as the #38 made its way slowly back.
GTE Pro was topped by the factory Porsche pair, #92 ahead of #91, a 3:52.901 topping the times with the two AF Corse Ferraris next up ahead of the undulated #64 Corvette and the #79 WeatherTech Porsche.
The #63 Corvette did not re-emerge after its mid-session stop and remained behind the leading GTE Am car with the HubAuto Porsche further back still as the team dialled into the session.
GTE Am saw the #18 Absolute Porsche with a significant margin in the session, Alessio Picariello putting in a 3:55.841 that was seven tenths clear of the #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche of Julien Andlauer. (Update! post-session, the #98 Aston matin was credited with a 1:55.751 that was good enough for fastest in class)
The #98 Northwest AMR and #777 D’Station Aston martins would round out the top four in the class (See above).
Incidents in LMGTE Pro:
Antonio Garcia in the #63 Corvette Racing C8R suffered a mechanical problem during the third hour of the session. The Spaniard had to stop on track. His car returned to the pits on a flat bed.
Incidents in LMGTE Am:
Satori Hoshino in the #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR hit a tire wall but was able able to return on track.
Tom Gamble in #86 GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 suffered a puncture and is believed to have hit the barriers on the Mulsanne Straight before the first chicane. This triggered a red flag episode, Gamble unhurt and the team assessing the damage post-session.
John Hartshorne in the #95 Aston Martin hit the rails hard at the start of the first Mulsanne chicane. This accident triggered a red flag episode during the last hour of the session. The driver was uninjured.
