TDS Racing’s LMP2 Pro/Am-entered ORECA finished at the top of the timing screens to kick off the final ELMS race weekend of the season at Portimão.
Mathias Beche set the #29’s best time on the 4.4km Portuguese circuit, a 1:31.648, which was seven hundredths faster than the fastest of the LMP2 runners.
Nick Yelloly put the title-challenging #43 ORECA from Inter Europol second with his 1:31.725 shortly after a brief red flag nine minutes into the session.
The brief pause came when Matteo Cressoni in the #60 Proton Competition Porsche stopped on the run up the hill on the exit of the Torre Vip hairpin. There was no visible damage to the car when it was towed away by a circuit vehicle.
Aside from a trip into the gravel trap at the same corner for the TDS ORECA, it was the only notable incident across the 90 minutes of running.
Third overall in the times was the #28 IDEC Sport ORECA, with a lap just a tenth off the TDS car. The Vector ORECA ended up fourth, with the #24 Nielsen Racing example fifth.
The other two LMP2 title-contending cars from VDS Panis Racing and IDEC Sport (#18) ended up sixth and 19th, respectively, with best laps 0.260 and 1.4 seconds off.
In the LMP3 division, the championship winners at CLX Motorsport rose to the top with Adrien Closmenil’s 1:38.934 in the #17 Ligier.
WTM by Rinaldi’s Duqueine was just over three tenths back in second. RLR M Sport finished up third after Gillian Henrion completed an early 1:39.421.
DKR Engineering ensured all three LMP3 chassis constructors were represented in the top five with a 1:39.671 to go fourth.
Iron Lynx’s Mercedes set the pace in LMGT3. A 1:42.973 from Fabian Schiller put the #63 AMG GT3 0.166 faster than the field.
Four of the six GT3 manufacturers in the class ended up in the top five. The Iron Dames Porsche ended up second, while the United McLaren and Kessel Ferrari claimed third and fourth with laps within three tenths of Schiller.
TF Sport’s Corvette held onto the top spot for a chunk of the session after Charlie Eastwood set his best time. But the #82 dropped to second when Schiller reeled off his flyer, then to 11th post-session after having times deleted for speeding in the pit lane.
The Bronze Test is next up on the timetable, at 14:40 later today, ahead of Free Practice 2 tomorrow morning at 10:10.
