Toyota topped the time sheets one more time in the final Free Practice session of Le Mans week with Kazuki Nakajima clocking a 3:27.994 in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar.
Nicolas Lapierre was a close second in the top class driving the #36 Alpine Elf Matmut A480 Gibson, with a fastest lap of 3:28.280, some three tenths behind the leading Toyota.
The #7 Toyota GR10 Hybrid shared by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez ended third fastest, some 1.6 second behind the sister car (3:29.567). Towards the end of the session, that car span and miraculously avoided contact with the safety rails as it exited Tertre Rouge in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi
Similar to what happened in most free practice and qualifying sessions, the two Glickenhaus Racing 007 LMH were the slowest of the Hypercars with the #709 (3:30.309) leading the #708 (3:36.178).
LMP2
Meanwhile in LMP2, the #26 G-Drive Racing shared by Roman Rusinov, Franco Colapinto and Nick De Vries dominated the entire session (3.31.414). They finished nearly five tenths ahead of the #29 Racing Team Nederland Oreca 07 Gibson driven by Frits Van Eerd, Guido Van Der Gard and Job Van Uiterts (3:31.862) and six tenths ahead of the #22 United Autosport shared by Phil Hanson, Fabio Scherer and Filipe Albuquerque (3:32.006).
The #17 IDEC Sport Oreca 07 Gibson did not compete in this session as it was still being repaired after this morning’s incident in the Dunlop chicane.
GTE-Pro
Into the final stage of preparation in the GTE classes; if you’re not shaping up by now, it’s probably going to be a long weekend…
The good news in GTE-Pro was that Kevin Estre’s hefty Hyperpole excursion had not been terminal. The #92 Porsche was back at its garage undergoing a rebuild, the chassis having passed inspection.
As the temperatures started to fall, so could lap times for those chasing them. Gianmaria Bruni pressed on in typical style to top the session times, finding a 3:49.334 as an indicator of the #91’s race pace. Laurens Vanthoor was still showing the form of the Weathertec Porsche though, bumping Bruni’s best by over a second: 3:48.246 would be the session best.
Interestingly, both Corvettes had dipped into sub 3:50 laps too, as Laurens Vanthoor’s 3:48.246 put the Weathertech Porsche at the top of the time sheet as the session neared its last half hour.
GTE-Am
Thomas Flohr’s AF Corse Ferrari had a trip to the beach, a hot entry to the Dunlop Chicane rotating the #54 VistaJet liveried 488, throwing a slow zone at the half way mark: more interruption to the rhythm of the session at a crucial time.
At about two seconds adrift of the GTE-Pro pace, the Am class was again showing how closely contested it was likely to be in the race, a different mix of cars taking centre stage. Francois Perrodo topped the times, a 3:51.561 for the ‘chrome’ #83 Ferrari, ahead of a #99 Proton Porsche, its crew replacing the driver line-up as originally billed, a balance between seat time and set up a challenge for the new trio of Tincknell, Inthraphuvasak and Latorre. So far so good though, Tincknell’s pace impressive.
Absolute Racing ran fourth in this session, JMW Motorsport’s #66 Ferrari getting a grip too in fifth, the top five all in the 3:51’s. Aston Martin Racing’s #98 Vantage was starting to improve as the best of the Aston Martins in sixth, the TF Sport pair electing to sit out the session.
Ben Barnicoat had shown well in the #71 Inception Racing Ferrari, but optimism was dashed as Ollie Millroy span the car hard into the wall at the Ford Chicane. Rear end damage looked bad, a long night and day ahead for its pit crew. Red Flag conditions meant the session would not be resumed.
Tomorrow is rest day at Le Mans. The race is set to start at 16:00 local time in France on Saturday.
