An overcast and slightly chilly Silverstone greeted the competitors for the early morning Free Practice session. Eager for track time, everyone headed out early-on leading to a fairly crowded circuit. Mark Webber started in the #20 Porsche and immediately became the first to break the 1:43.000 barrier. He posted a time of 1:42.837 and looked visibly committed out on track.
With only four laps completed by the leaders the #12 Rebellion Lola with Beche behind the wheel stopped out on track. Television replays showed smoke coming from the rear of the car as it exited the final corner. Moments later it seemed as if oil had been dropped at Vale as the #53 RAM Racing Ferrari took a fairly dramatic trip through the gravel, thankfully avoiding the barriers. With the #12 car stranded on track and a dangerously slippy braking zone out came the red flag.
At that point the top three in each class were as follows.
LMP1
#20 1:42.837 Webber
#8 1:43.835 Buemi
#1 1:44.100 Di Grassi
LMP2
#47 1:51.463 Matsuda
#27 1:52.492 Minassian
#26 1:52.989 Pla
LMGTE PRO
#92 1:59.714 Holzer
#91 2:00.198 Tandy
#97 2:01.129 Turner
LMGTE AM
#81 1:59.335 Bird
#98 2:01.707 Lamy
#95 2:02.217 Heinemeir
With only around ten minutes lost the session resumed. Again the track was busy and with many trying to push, with qualifying looming, there were a couple of offs as GT cars tried to avoid contact. The #53 RAM car again in the wars, first of all having to duck out of a Aston Martin and Porsche sandwich leaving Mowlem to cross the run-off at Becketts. Then next lap round in the same spot Mowlem had a moment all to himself but with an equally harmless outcome.
In LMP1 Leimer in the #13 Rebellion Lola went quicker than the last of the factory cars with a 1:44.698, still almost two seconds off the leader though. As the session calmed down and driver changes left the track a little emptier some managed to get in a good time. First to get a clean lap was Kristensen in the #1 Audi, who managed a 1:43.267 to take him up to 2nd. Almost immediately behind him though was Dumas in the #14 Porsche, who became only the second driver to dip under the 1:43 mark with a 1:42.987; the Porsche seeming to have the edge in sectors one and three and the Audi in sector two.
Noticeably quiet were the two Toyotas. At the end of the session they were almost a second behind the lead Porsche. Confirmation came later that the #8 car had a supercapacitor change during the session, which seemed to suggest why they had been cautious. From watching the cars out on track the Toyotas appeared a little less ragged than the other two teams, suggesting perhaps that they were pushing less.
With only four cars in LMP2, following the various recent withdrawals, there is a real opportunity to gain a big advantage in the championship this weekend. Pla in the #26 Morgan Nissan got his quickest lap in around half way through the session and remained at the top of the times throughout. He posted a highly respectable 1:49.484. Elsewhere in the class Matsuda in the #47 KCMG Oreca consistently improved through out the session eventually ending up with a 1:50.115. The two SMP cars closed out the class but with very capable drivers in both it appears that for qualifying it will be quality not quantity.
LMGTE PRO saw both Porsches posting quick times after the red flag with the #91 car turning in a 1:59.571 and only two tenths ahead of the sister car. In fact it wasn’t until late on that they were challenged, when Bruni popped his #51 Ferrari initially up in to 2nd. However, next lap round Bruni went top with a 1:59.315 and that was how it ended. Aston Martin’s challenging session was highlighted by a very late spin by Mucke in the #97 car.
Finally LMGTE AM, which turned out to be a mixture of gentleman drivers getting track time and their pro team mates practising their qualifying laps. The quickest lap by some distance though was posted before the red flag, with Sam Bird showing his considerable pace with a 1:59.335 which would have been good enough for second in the pro class. This further proves what was suspected pre-season; that the LMGTE AM cars are going to be able to mix it with the PRO cars a lot more this year.
No one else got close to Bird’s early time – in fact, the only person within a second of the #81 Ferrari was the #90 8 Star Motorsports Ferrari, which posted a very respectable 2:00.311.
James Goodwin
