Porsche Penske Motorsport’s #6 963 led the way in the final practice session for the FIA WEC teams at Spa today, with Kevin Estre managing a 2:04.125 tour of the circuit in sunny conditions ahead of Qualifying.
This time was marginally quicker than the 2:04.162 he set to go quickest in Free Practice 2, and was two tenths up on the best time from Ferrari in this session. 2023 Le Mans winner James Calado was the Italian make’s fastest driver in the #51, with a 2:04.340.
The #6 set the fastest Sector 1 and 2 times, while the Ferrari ended up quickest in Sector 3. Qualifying this afternoon is finely poised.
It was a better session from Peugeot in pace terms. The #93 9X8 slotted in third with a 2:04.357 from Mikkel Jensen.
The #50 Ferrari ended up fourth, with the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 completing the top five.
In LMGT3, it was Manthey Pure Rxcing’s Porsche that would top the times, with Alex Malykhin’s 2:20.947 during a qualifying sim. Rahel Frey ended up improving on Sarah Bovy’s qualifying sim in the Iron Dames Lamborghini to go second with a 2:21.298.
The third fastest time was set by the #82 TF Sport Corvette. The #54 AF Corse Ferrari ended up fourth, with the Manthey EMA Porsche completing the top five.
There were a few issues to report in the session, the first being the Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C stopping on pit lane at the start of the session, needing a re-fire.
The second was an off into the gravel for the #82 TF Sport Corvette. Hiroshi Koizumi was aboard the Z06 LMGT3.R and ended up facing the wrong way at Les Combes and beached, bringing out an eight-minute Full-Course Yellow period.
The #38 JOTA Porsche had the biggest moment though, and suffered significant rear-right and front-end damage when Oliver Rasmussen had a high-speed off at Blanchimont. The Dane went off the circuit through the gravel and ended up getting air time over the grass, the car taking a nose-dive. The car will require significant work before Qualifying, the JOTA mechanics already working on it by the end of the session after Rasmussen brought it back.
Moments later the Cadillac also had an off through the gravel too.
In pit lane the #83 privately-entered Ferrari required attention to its front end for much of the session and only managed 10 laps.
