Jonathan Aberdein set the fastest time of the second ELMS pracice session at Barcelona this morning in the #43 Inter Europol ORECA. His best time was a 1:29.950, six tenths clear of the rest of the pack.
Below him on the timing screens, the remaining three cars in the top four were all LMP2 class cars, with IDEC Sport’s ORECA ending up second with a 1:30.550 and the #25 Algarve Pro 07 Gibson third, the only other car within a second of the #43, James Allen seting a 1:30.831 to put the team eight tenths off.
The fastest of the LMP2 Pro/Am runners ended up fifth, a few tenths off the #30 Duqueine ORECA that slotted in fourth. On this occasion, Dragonspeed’s ORECA set the pace in P2 Pro/Am, with a 1:31.401 set by Juan Pablo Montoya in the opening minutes of the session.
The #37 COOL Racing and #20 Algarve Pro ORECAs ended up completing the top three.
Notably, the #19 Team Virage ORECA made it out and completed 16 laps in the session, following Rob Hodes’ big off in yesterday’s Bronze Test. However, Hodes will take no further part in the meeting after his visit to the hospital. The team will instead compete with High Class Racing regular Dennis Andersen this weekend, who has been drafted in as a late replacement.
The stewards’ bulletin notes that “Hodes is now allowed to participate in the event and the tema manager provided a medical certificate from the hospital.”
In LMP3, the #12 WTM Rinaldi Duqueine M30 topped the times, marking the first time all week a Duqueine chassis has set the fastest time in LMP3 during a session. Setting the best time was Oscar Tunjo, a 1:36.971, bettering Manuel Espirito Santo’s 137.627 from early in the running in the #8 Team Virage Ligier. The #10 Eurointernational JS P320 rounded out the top three.
GTE saw Proton’s #93 Porsche emerge as the pace-setter, after an early 1:40.248 hot lap by Martin Rump.
The top five cars in the class all came within a second of Rump’s time. The #51 AF Corse and Formula Racing 488s ended up second and third, ahead of the #16 Proton and #60 Iron Lynx Porsches.
Next up on the ELMS schedule is Qualifying, which will get underway at 14:40 local time in Barcelona.
