Prologue – Day 1: Cadillac finishes first, Peugeot goes off the track

Third this morning, Cadillac increased the pace this Saturday afternoon. The V-Series.R n°2 has thus joined the two Toyota under the 1:49 mark at Sebring with the best time of the second session of the day in 1:48.429. 

The first three finished in a tight spot since Sébastien Buemi placed the No. 010 Toyota GR8 Hybrid in second place by just 0.014 seconds, ahead of the sister car 0.124 seconds behind the Cadillac. With 144 laps covered between them, the Japanese prototypes were those who covered the most kilometers during this three-hour driving session. There Ferrari 499P No. 50 was the only other car to finish the session in the same second. The second car of the Prancing Horse as well as the two Porsche follow.

To Peugeot , this Saturday afternoon's session went less well with the #93 driven by Jean-Éric Vergne going off the track. The French Hypercar, damaged on its right side, was brought back onto a truck in the paddock after contact with the safety barriers. Only 12 laps were covered by this car, which did not restart after this accident. The sister car completed 40 laps for a best time of 1:51.053, synonymous with 8th place.

Body damage to right front and rear

Car now in the paddock.. looks like there is some work to be done on steering and front suspension.. pic.twitter.com/aGig4Pc48u

— Midweek Motorsport (@specutainment) March 11, 2023

Glickenhaus and Vanwall once again brought up the rear in the Hypercar category, the two cars even being beaten by LM P2s with 17th and 22nd places overall. L'Alpine No. 35 is the only LM P2 behind the Austrian LMH in the standings.

United Autosports confirmed its morning domination in LM P2 by once again setting the best time in the category on Saturday afternoon with the No. 22 of Filipe Albuquerque, Phil Hanson and Frederik Lubin. The Prema n°63 of Dorian Pin, Mirko Bortolotti and Daniil Kvyat took second place ahead of the No. 41 WRT of Rui Andrade, Louis Delétraz and Robert Kubica.

The Iron Ladies are in good form at Sebring as they dominated both sessions of the day in Florida. The #911 Porsche 19 RSR – 85 got the better of the #21 Ferrari and another Porsche, the #77 of Dempsey – Proton Competition in which we find Frenchman Julien Andlauer.

See you this Sunday at 15 p.m. (French time) for the second day of the Prologue of the 2023 season of WEC.

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