24h Le Mans
Two free practice sessions were scheduled at the Circuit of the Americas on Thursday. Below are reports for both sessions.
Free Practice 1
Welcome to a hot and steamy Circuit of The Americas in Austin Texas, venue for the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Air temperatures at the start of the session were 32°C (94°F), with the track temperatures significantly higher, but nothing was going to deter the competitors as they took to the track for the first free practice session for the Lone Star Le Mans race on Saturday night. It’s been a long break since the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June but the action has re-started!
Aston Martin Racing shone brightly in the 90-minute session, with Darren Turner in the LM GTE Pro No.97 Vantage V8 putting in a last minute lap of 2:06.399 to top the time sheets in the two LM GTE categories. Setting the time just before the chequered flag fell and temperatures dropped (with a sprinkling of rain), he displaced his Aston Martin Racing LM GTE Am team mates from the No.95 entry. New Zealander Richie Stanaway set the best lap of 2:06.427 to head the class and start the weekend off well for the British marque.
AF Corse’s No.51 Ferrari 458 Italia was 0.5s behind the class leader in LM GTE Pro with Corvette Racing’s Team America making a solid start to its first FIA WEC round outside the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Also impressing was the US-entered No.90 8Star Motorsport F458 in LMGTE Am, with American Jeff Segal among the driver line up.
A second 90-minute free practice session will take place between 7:30 pm (CT), going into the night, in order for the teams and drivers to prepare fully for Saturday’s race.
Free Practice 2
Welcome to racing in the dark, and racing in the rain! The closed cockpits of the Aston Martins, Corvette, Ferraris and Porsches of the LM GTE Pro and Am classes were at least afforded some protection in tonight’s rain-delayed 90-minute night practice session – something the drivers from some of their LM P2 competitors were without.
The lightning and thunder of a severe storm overhead the Circuit of The Americas delayed the start of the session for an hour, but with a night race looming on Saturday it is mandatory that all drivers have to complete three timed laps in the dark. The session therefore started under very wet track conditions.
Porsche’s two 911 RSR ended the session at the head of the timesheets in the LM GTE Pro category, Frédéric Makowiecki in the No.92 having set a best lap of 2:17.588. Until the final minutes of the session it had been a 1-2 for Porsche Team Manthey, Nick Tandy in the No.91 behind his team mate. However, AF Corse’s Gianmaria Bruni in the No.51 Ferrari 458 Italia broke up the pairing with a lap of 2:18.195. The only red flag of the session came just 15 minutes after the start in order to clear a stranded No.71 Ferrari from the side of the track due to a rear suspension problem.
In LM GTE Am, Aston Martin Racing once again led the way. Richie Stanaway was the man to beat in the No.95 Vantage V8 with a flying, wet lap of 2:24.111 ahead of Christoffer Nygaard in the No.98 entry. Prospeed Competition’s Matthieu Vaxivière, making his return to the FIA WEC for the first time after a back injury sustained in single-seater racing in May, set the third quickest time in the class.
A third, one-hour practice session will take place tomorrow from 10:20-11:20 am – the last chance the drivers will have to work on the balance and set up of their cars before the late afternoon qualifying sessions.
FIA WEC reports
PHOTO: AUSTIN (TEXAS, UNITED STATES), CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS, 6 HOURS OF COTA, THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 18 2014, FREE PRACTICE 2. The #92 Porsche was the fastest LM GTE car on the wet track.
