Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Fuji WEC: Porsche outpaces Audi in Friday practice

Porsche edged out Audi to claim the fastest time of the day across the first two sessions of free practice for Sunday's Fuji round of the World Endurance Championship

Brendon Hartley went fastest in the #17 Porsche 919 Hybrid with a 1m24.460s set in the second of the two 90-minute sessions.

That put him just under half a tenth ahead of Audi driver Andre Lotterer's 1m24.497s, which topped the times in the opening session in the morning.

The second Porsche was the only other car to break the 1m25s barrier around the 2.84-mile Fuji Speedway with a 1m24.876s from Neel Jani.

The second Audi R18 e-tron quattro was fourth fastest with a 1m25.142s from Lucas di Grassi in practice two.

Porsche tried both the high-downforce configuration it has raced in the WEC since the Nurburgring round in August and a lower-downforce Le Mans-spec bodywork in the opening session.

That validated its simulations that the high-downforce version was faster around Fuji and both cars ran in this spec in the afternoon.

Toyota's best time of the day, a 1m26.242s from Sebastien Buemi set in the morning, left the Japanese manufacturer 1.7 seconds off the pace on its home circuit.

Sam Bird was fastest in LMP2 for the G-Drive Racing squad, posting a 1m32.131s aboard his Ligier-Nissan JSP2 in the afternoon to end up nearly six tenths clear of Nelson Panciatici in the Signatech Alpine ORECA-Nissan 03R.

AF Corse Ferrari driver Toni Vilander was fastest in GTE Pro with his second-session best of 1m39.922s.

That put him just one hundredth up on Frederic Makowiecki's fastest time for the Manthey Porsche team in the morning.

The best time for Aston Martin, which has been given an air-restrictor break for Fuji, was a 1m40.021s recorded by Marco Sorensen in second practice.

Paolo Ruberti led the way in GTE Am for the Larbre Chevrolet team courtesy of a 1m40.734s.

PRACTICE ONE TIMES:

Pos Class Driver Team Car Time Gap Laps
1 LMP1 M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 1m24.497s - 36
2 LMP1 R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb Porsche Team Porsche 1m25.230s 0.733s 37
3 LMP1 L.di Grassi, L.Duval, O.Jarvis Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 1m25.830s 1.333s 33
4 LMP1 T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley Porsche Team Porsche 1m26.045s 1.548s 30
5 LMP1 A.Davidson, S.Buemi, K.Nakajima Toyota Racing Toyota 1m26.633s 2.136s 32
6 LMP1 A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway Toyota Racing Toyota 1m26.724s 2.227s 38
7 LMP1 N.Prost, M.Beche Rebellion Racing Rebellion/AER 1m30.867s 6.370s 32
8 LMP1 A.Imperatori, D.Kraihamer, D.Abt Rebellion Racing Rebellion/AER 1m31.357s 6.860s 14
9 LMP1 S.Trummer, P.Kaffer Team ByKolles CLM/AER 1m31.810s 7.313s 31
10 LMP2 N.Panciatici, P-L.Chatin, V.Capillaire Signatech Alpine Alpine/Nissan 1m32.701s 8.204s 49
11 LMP2 G.Yacaman, P.Derani, R.Gonzalez G-Drive Racing Ligier/Nissan 1m32.778s 8.281s 43
12 LMP2 M.Howson, R.Bradley, N.Tandy KCMG ORECA/Nissan 1m32.872s 8.375s 46
13 LMP2 P.Ragues, O.Webb, C.Cumming Team SARD Morand Morgan/SARD 1m32.999s 8.502s 43
14 LMP2 N.Leventis, D.Watts, J.Kane Strakka Racing Gibson/Nissan 1m33.407s 8.910s 26
15 LMP2 R.Rusinov, J.Canal, S.Bird G-Drive Racing Ligier/Nissan 1m33.828s 9.331s 35
16 LMP2 S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, D.H.Hansson Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier/HPD 1m34.242s 9.745s 39
17 LMP2 E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, J.Fogarty Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier/HPD 1m34.638s 10.141s 41
18 GTE Pro P.Pilet, F.Makowiecki Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 1m39.931s 15.434s 33
19 GTE Pro D.Rigon, J.Calado AF Corse Ferrari 1m39.958s 15.461s 44
20 GTE Pro G.Bruni, T.Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 1m39.963s 15.466s 44
21 GTE Pro C.Nygaard, M.Sorensen Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m40.193s 15.696s 41
22 GTE Pro R.Lietz, M.Christensen Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 1m40.201s 15.704s 31
23 GTE Pro A.MacDowall, F.Rees, S.Mucke Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m40.269s 15.772s 42
24 GTE Pro D.Turner, J.Adam Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m40.546s 16.049s 41
25 GTE Am G.Roda, P.Ruberti, N.Sylvest Larbre Competition Chevrolet 1m40.659s 16.162s 37
26 GTE Am V.Shaytar, A.Bertolini, A.Basov SMP Racing Ferrari 1m40.691s 16.194s 30
27 GTE Am P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m40.830s 16.333s 43
28 GTE Am F.Perrodo, E.Collard, R.Aguas AF Corse Ferrari 1m41.105s 16.608s 37
29 GTE Am F.Castellacci, L.Griffin, S.Hall Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m41.354s 16.857s 40
30 GTE Am P.Dempsey, P.Long, M.Seefried Dempsey Racing - Proton Porsche 1m41.580s 17.083s 36
31 GTE Am C.Ried, K.Al Qubaisi, E.Bamber Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche 1m42.137s 17.640s 38

PRACTICE TWO TIMES:

Pos Class Driver Team Car Time Gap Laps
1 LMP1 T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley Porsche Team Porsche 1m24.460s - 55
2 LMP1 M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 1m24.843s 0.383s 55
3 LMP1 R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb Porsche Team Porsche 1m24.876s 0.416s 53
4 LMP1 L.di Grassi, L.Duval, O.Jarvis Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 1m25.142s 0.682s 47
5 LMP1 A.Davidson, S.Buemi, K.Nakajima Toyota Racing Toyota 1m26.242s 1.782s 45
6 LMP1 A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway Toyota Racing Toyota 1m27.149s 2.689s 53
7 LMP1 N.Prost, M.Beche Rebellion Racing Rebellion/AER 1m29.941s 5.481s 31
8 LMP1 S.Trummer, P.Kaffer Team ByKolles CLM/AER 1m30.727s 6.267s 16
9 LMP1 A.Imperatori, D.Kraihamer, D.Abt Rebellion Racing Rebellion/AER 1m31.094s 6.634s 28
10 LMP2 R.Rusinov, J.Canal, S.Bird G-Drive Racing Ligier/Nissan 1m32.131s 7.671s 36
11 LMP2 M.Howson, R.Bradley, N.Tandy KCMG ORECA/Nissan 1m32.951s 8.491s 50
12 LMP2 G.Yacaman, P.Derani, R.Gonzalez G-Drive Racing Ligier/Nissan 1m32.990s 8.530s 41
13 LMP2 P.Ragues, O.Webb, C.Cumming Team SARD Morand Morgan/SARD 1m33.526s 9.066s 42
14 LMP2 N.Leventis, D.Watts, J.Kane Strakka Racing Gibson/Nissan 1m33.545s 9.085s 50
15 LMP2 N.Panciatici, P-L.Chatin, V.Capillaire Signatech Alpine Alpine/Nissan 1m33.619s 9.159s 47
16 LMP2 S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, D.H.Hansson Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier/HPD 1m34.664s 10.204s 30
17 LMP2 E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, J.Fogarty Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier/HPD 1m35.497s 11.037s 41
18 GTE Pro G.Bruni, T.Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 1m39.922s 15.462s 48
19 GTE Pro D.Rigon, J.Calado AF Corse Ferrari 1m40.021s 15.561s 40
20 GTE Pro C.Nygaard, M.Sorensen Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m40.092s 15.632s 43
21 GTE Pro R.Lietz, M.Christensen Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 1m40.104s 15.644s 36
22 GTE Pro P.Pilet, F.Makowiecki Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 1m40.414s 15.954s 40
23 GTE Pro A.MacDowall, F.Rees, S.Mucke Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m40.684s 16.224s 45
24 GTE Am F.Castellacci, L.Griffin, S.Hall Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m40.706s 16.246s 44
25 GTE Pro D.Turner, J.Adam Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m40.720s 16.260s 48
26 GTE Am G.Roda, P.Ruberti, N.Sylvest Larbre Competition Chevrolet 1m40.734s 16.274s 43
27 GTE Am P.Dempsey, P.Long, M.Seefried Dempsey Racing - Proton Porsche 1m40.958s 16.498s 38
28 GTE Am P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m41.006s 16.546s 40
29 GTE Am V.Shaytar, A.Bertolini, A.Basov SMP Racing Ferrari 1m41.599s 17.139s 42
30 GTE Am F.Perrodo, E.Collard, R.Aguas AF Corse Ferrari 1m41.963s 17.503s 46
31 GTE Am C.Ried, K.Al Qubaisi, E.Bamber Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche 1m42.396s 17.936s 39


Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Porsche hopes 2016 F1 calendar changes to help Nico Hulkenberg
Next article WEC LMP1 tests for LMP2 leader Bird, GP2 racers Stanaway and Evans

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe