The morning mist and murk that swept in from the Atlantic overnight soon cleared as the first Free Practice session got underway this morning at Estoril.
With the track drying rapidly most of the 35 entrants were soon on intermediate tyres and then slicks as the session times quickly tumbled.
A brief red flag 22mins in to the 90-minute session was the first of three stoppages. Popular local LMP2 debutant Miguel Faisca had a quick turn six rotation but was eventually able to get the Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan back to his box.
The second stoppage was caused by Michael Broniszewski who beached his Kessel Racing Ferrari in the turn one gravel trap. Some damage to the front and rear bodywork and the need for a lot hovering were the issues to be dealt with by the Swiss team before FP2 this afternoon.
The final red flag was unfurled for the #75 Prospeed Porsche, with Max Van Splunteren at the wheel, when it stopped with a suspected gearbox problem just two minutes from the end.
Heading the times at the end of the session (which was extended by 10-mins after the second red flag) was the Murphy Prototypes Oreca-Nissan with ‘Pipo’ Derani continuing to delight the team with some impressive pace. The Brazilian lapped in 1m33.381s to head the Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan by just 0.053s. Earlier in the session both Tony Wells and James Littlejohn completed flawless stints, gaining useful miles as they sample the Oreca-Nissan for only the second time. The pair got their first taste of the car at Paul Ricard last month when the team stayed on after the fourth round of the series.
Harry Tincknell kicked off the session before handing over to Filipe Albuquerque. The Portuguese then set about executing a series of scorching laps, stretching out huge chunks of time as he went purple in just about every sector. At one stage he was 1.8s clear of the rest of the field before Derani set his lap.
It was a fine start for the title protagonists and there was an air of quiet determination in their garage during the session. They are chasing down a 10-point gap to the Signatech Alpine squad of Nelson Panciatici, Oli Webb and Paul-Loup Chatin, who finished the free practice session in fifth position this morning.
Ahead of them were Thiriet by TDS Racing in third (Tristan Gommendy setting the time) and the #28 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan fourth. Luciano Bacheta was in feisty form again as he set a series of purple first sectors to lay down some intent as a potential challenger to the title protagonists this weekend.
The LMGTE class saw the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia quickest with Andrea Bertolini, as he has so often done this season, heading the times on a 1m39.162. Bertolini, along with team mates Viktor Shaitar and Sergey Zlobin are attempting to overturn as 21-point deficit to the #55 AF Corse trio this weekend.
Matt Griffin was, as always, in buoyant mood in the AF Corse garage, saying: “The forecast looks good for tomorrow so the early running in this session will probably not mean too much. We are in the position where we can play the percentage game but we are actually approaching it like any of the other races. I was in the same position last season so I know what is needed to be done.”
Celebrating his 30th birthday today, Stuart Hall was, as ever, in fine form with the Gulf Racing UK Aston Martin Vantage V8, as he set a best lap of 1m39.833s to claim second place in LMGTE. The teams’ new Porsche 911 RSR continued to gain miles and survived a brief grassy excursion to place 11th in the LMGTE class.
In GTC, Mika Salo set a 1m40.523 lap in the #57 SMP Racing Ferrari to head the #60 title chasing Formula Racing Ferrari by two tenths of a second, with Mikkel Mac setting the best time for the all-Danish crew. Monagasque racer – Cedric Sbirrazzouli, continued his fine form by placing third with the #95 AF Corse Ferrari that he shares with Andre De Leener.
BMW Sports Trophy Marc VDS had a solid start to their ELMS debut with Bas Leinders, Markus Palttala and Henry Hassid finishing the session in fourth place. Leinders set the time of 1m41.403s.
One familiar face in an unfamiliar environment at Estoril was Kelvin Burt. The 1993 British F3 driver is at Estoril overseeing James Fletcher, who acquitted himself well in the #41 Greaves Zytek-Nissan.
“I am just a helping hand for James this weekend,” said Burt. “He raced a Wolf in the Britcar at Silverstone last month and did a really good job. When he gets miles under his belt he will be one to watch for sure.”
Free Practice two is scheduled to get under way at 15.30cet this afternoon.
Sam Smith
