Glickenhaus returned to the top of the time sheets in the final free practice session for the FIA WEC runners at Sebring. Olivier Pla went quickest, beating Alpine’s A480 to the top spot with a 1:49.261 tour of the airfield circuit in the sole 007 LMH present. The lap was also the quickest of anyone thus far in the meeting, a real boost for the team ahead of qualifying tonight.
Alpine’s Nicolas Lapierre initially set the pace early in the session with a 1:49.664 in the French-flagged grandfathered LMP1 machine, but it wasn’t enough to match Pla’s best, set around the halfway mark of the session.
Toyota again struggled to find the ultimate pace with its pair of hybrid-powered GR010s, the quickest of the two (the #8 with its best tour set by Brendon Hartley) ending up fifth overall behind the quickest runners in the LMP2 class. The #7 meanwhile, ended up eighth overall with a time 1.2 seconds off Pla’s time.
Filipe Albuquerque was the fastest driver in LMP2 driving United Autosports’ #22 ORECA, his best time was 1:49.745. It was just over two tenths faster than the #38 JOTA ORECA which had its best time set by Antonio Felix Da Costa. ranked third overall in the LMP2-leading Oreca 07 Gibson from United Autosports.
GTE was led by Porsche in both categories.
In the Pro division, Michael Christensen set the best time of the German marque’s two 911s. The Dane’s best was a 1:57.448, two tenths clear of the sister car.
Best of the rest in the class was Corvette Racing’s C8.R third overall in the GTE ranks, over a second off the pace. AF Corse again failed to set a time capable of putting a Ferrari at the top of the times, the quickest of the two 488s was the #51, which ended up two tenths off the quickest time from the Am category.
In Am, it was the #46 Team Project 1 Porsche that topped the times, Matteo Carioli reeling off a 1:58.776. Behind, WEC rookie Sebastien Priaulx already looks up to speed, setting the best time in the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche to go second, while Nicki Thiim broke the Porsche deadlock at the top by putting the Northwest AMR Vantage third.
There were a few incidents of note in the 60-minute session. The most dramatic was the #85 Iron Dames Ferrari, which brushed the barriers at Turn 17 with Sarah Bovy at the wheel. Bovy made it back to the pits but the car didn’t return to the track after suffering rear-end damage.
Ed Jones meanwhile, had a spin at Turn 3 in the #28 JOTA ORECA caused by a detached wheel, bringing out an FCY. The #45 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA during James Allen’s run also had an off causing a caution period, though the car made no contact with the barriers.
It was also notable that the session had to be red-flagged after the checkered flag came out, due to two cars continuing to lap the circuit after what should have been their out laps. This included the quickest car in the session, the #708 Glickenhaus, which completed two additional laps.
Next up on the track for the FIA WEC teams is qualifying at 19:00 local time in Florida.
