WEC - Fuji: Porsche responds to Audi

By setting the best time in the second free practice session for the 6 Hours of Fuji, Porsche set the benchmark time for this first day. But Audi is very close.

Published on 09/10/2015 à 10:08

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1'24"460, this is the time signed by the Porsche 919 Hybrid n°17 from the Timo Bernhard trio-Brendon Hartley-Mark Webber during the second free practice session for the 6 Hours of Fuji, sixth round of the WEC. This is the new reference of this first day, this record erasing from the shelves the 1’24”497 from André Lotterer a few hours earlier. The 100% German duel between the false brothers of the VW group therefore keeps all its promises.

During this last session, the No. 18 Audi R7 e-tron quattro that André Lotterer shares with Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer finished second by just 0 seconds, just ahead of the second 383 Hybrid of Romain Dumas-Neel Jani-Marc Lieb, which is only 919 »0 behind the reference mark. Both Toyota TS040 Hybrid are at 1”7 and 2”6, with the advantage going to n°1.

In private LM P1 too, the fight promises to be interesting to follow, since the CLM P1/01-AER managed to get in between the two Rebellion R-Ones.

G-Drive intends, in LM P2, to continue its momentum. Winner of the 6 Hours of Austin in mid-September, the No. 2 Ligier JS P26 of Sam Bird-Julien Canal-Roman Rusinov completed its fastest lap in 1’32”131. This is 0” better than the second-placed No. 8 KCMG Oreca 05, driven by Richard Bradley, Nick Tandy and Matt Howson. As a reminder, the two cars are fighting in the general classification of the category with the Ligier n°47 of Derani-Gonzalez-Yacaman, third in the session, a breath away.

Ferrari took power in GTE Pro thanks to the 458 Italia n°51 of Gianmaria Bruni-Toni Vilander, credited with a best time of 1’39’922. The leading trio is completed by the sister car of James Calado-Davide Rigon and theAston Martin n°95 of Nygaard-Sorensen, which is ahead of the two Porsche 911 RSRs.

Finally, in GTE Am, the new benchmark goes to the #96 Aston Martin Vantage of Francesco Castellacci-Liam Griffin-Stuart Hall, in 1’40”706. The British beauty preceded the Larbre Compétition Corvette C7.R of Roda-Ruberti-Sylvest, best time this morning, and the No. 911 Porsche 77 RSR of Dempsey-Long-Seefried.

Tomorrow, the third free practice session will be held at 2:50 a.m. (French time). Qualifying will begin at 6:40 a.m.