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Le Mans 24h: Alpine quickest in disrupted FP3 as Toyota #8 crashes

The #36 Alpine A480-Gibson of Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere topped the third Le Mans 24 Hours practice session as Kazuki Nakajima crashed the #8 Toyota at Indianapolis.

#36 Alpine Elf Matmut Alpine A480 - Gibson Hypercar, André Negrão, Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere

#36 Alpine Elf Matmut Alpine A480 - Gibson Hypercar, André Negrão, Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere

Rainier Ehrhardt

In the final minutes of Thursday's three-hour session, Lapierre demoted Mike Conway's #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID with a late flyer of 3m26.594s in the grandfathered LMP1 machine that raced last year as the ORECA R13 under the Rebellion banner.

Conway had set his 3m28.064s benchmark early in the three-hour session, which was marred by two red flags and multiple yellows as several drivers got caught out in the relatively cool conditions.

In the final half hour, Nakajima went off the road in the left-hand part of Indianapolis, damaging the rear of his car against the barriers but ultimately recovering his car to the pits.

After his session-topping lap, Lapierre was lucky to avoid a similar fate when he went off in the same spot.

The first red flag was caused when Dwight Merriman lost control of his #17 IDEC Sport ORECA LMP2 car under braking for the Dunlop chicane at the end of the first hour, the American clattering hard into the wall.

Juan Pablo Montoya then had a similar incident at the same corner, bringing out the second red flag when his #21 DragonSpeed ORECA turned sharp right into the wall and sustained severe front-end damage.

Beyond those stoppages, other incidents prevented several drivers from improving their times. Conway's team-mate Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 Toyota was on course to lower the Briton's benchmark only to be thwarted by a yellow in the final sector.

Early in the session, Brendon Hartley clocked a time of 3m28.260s in the #8 Toyota, which ended up being good for third.

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid Hypercar, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid Hypercar, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Glickenhaus only joined the session one hour in after new Pipo engines were installed in both 007 LMH cars.

Olivier Pla took the #708 entry to fourth with a 3m28.728s, while the #709 sister car didn't set a competitive laptime and appeared to suffer a fresh engine issue in the closing minutes of FP3.

In LMP2, qualifying pace-setter Antonio Felix Da Costa took the #38 Jota ORECA to the top of the timesheets in the final minutes with a 3m.30.507s lap, which he followed with an even quicker 3m30.213s.

This demoted Fabio Scherer, who had set a 3m30.660s at the end of the second hour aboard the #22 United Autosports ORECA that currently leads the World Endurance Championship points standings.

In the #31 sister entry, a one-off car put together for Le Mans, Paul di Resta grabbed third with a 3m31.144s in the final hour that put him above the #65 Panis Racing car of James Allen and Robin Frijns in the #41 WRT entry.

GTE Pro was again topped by the #92 factory Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Kevin Estre, who beat his own early benchmark of 3m48.857s with a 3m48.126s in the second hour.

Estre headed a Weissach clean sweep of the top three places, with Earl Bamber steering the Proton-run Weathertech Racing Porsche to second, over a second down on Estre with a 3m49.435s, but three tenths quicker than the #91 works Porsche of Richard Lietz.

Alessandro Pier Guidi was fourth in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, narrowly ahead of stablemate Daniel Serra's #52 machine and the HubAuto Porsche of Dries Vanthoor.

#72 Hub Auto Racing Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE Pro, Dries Vanthoor, Alvaro Parente, Maxime Martin

#72 Hub Auto Racing Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE Pro, Dries Vanthoor, Alvaro Parente, Maxime Martin

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Corvette Racing brought up the rear of the class courtesy of Tommy Milner in the #64 Corvette C8.R and Nicky Catsburg in the #63 machine, which was crashed approaching the Porsche Curves by Antonio Garcia.

Porsche also dominated the GTE Am division, with Julien Andlauer posting a late 3m50.167s to go quickest in the #88 Dempsey Proton 911 - and fourth overall among the GT runners.

His effort was 0.6s quicker than fellow Porsche ace Matteo Cairoli in the #56 Team Project 1 entry, while Matt Campbell (#77 Dempsey Proton) and Harry Tincknell (#99 Proton) completed a 911 clean sweep of the top four. 

Action continues at 9:00pm local time for Hyperpole, in which the fastest six cars in each class from last night's Q1 session will battle for pole, immediately followed by night practice.

Le Mans 24 Hours - FP3 results:

Cla # Drivers Car Class Laps Time Gap
1 36 Brazil Andre Negrao
France Nicolas Lapierre
France Matthieu Vaxiviere
Alpine A480 HYPERCAR 29 3'26.594  
2 7 United Kingdom Mike Conway
Japan Kamui Kobayashi
Argentina Jose Maria Lopez
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid HYPERCAR 34 3'28.064 1.470
3 8 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi
Japan Kazuki Nakajima
New Zealand Brendon Hartley
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid HYPERCAR 27 3'28.260 1.666
4 708 Brazil Pipo Derani
France Franck Mailleux
France Olivier Pla
Glickenhaus 007 LMH HYPERCAR 14 3'28.728 2.134
5 38 Mexico Roberto Gonzalez
Portugal Antonio Felix da Costa
United Kingdom Anthony Davidson
Oreca 07 LMP2 32 3'30.213 3.619
6 22 United Kingdom Philip Hanson
Switzerland Fabio Scherer
Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
Oreca 07 LMP2 32 3'30.660 4.066
7 23 United Kingdom Paul di Resta
United Kingdom Alex Lynn
United Kingdom Wayne Boyd
Oreca 07 LMP2 35 3'31.144 4.550
8 65 France Julien Canal
United Kingdom Will Stevens
Australia James Allen
Oreca 07 LMP2 30 3'31.358 4.764
9 31 Netherlands Robin Frijns
Austria Ferdinand Habsburg
France Charles Milesi
Oreca 07 LMP2 36 3'31.381 4.787
10 41 Poland Robert Kubica
Switzerland Louis Deletraz
China Ye Yifei
Oreca 07 LMP2 22 3'31.865 5.271
11 82 Ireland Ryan Cullen
United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
Brazil Felipe Nasr
Oreca 07 LMP2 38 3'31.909 5.315
12 21 Sweden Henrik Hedman
United Kingdom Ben Hanley
Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya
Oreca 07 LMP2 24 3'32.178 5.584
13 34 Poland Jakub Smiechowski
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
United Kingdom Alex Brundle
Oreca 07 LMP2 26 3'32.188 5.594
14 17 United States Dwight Merriman
France Thomas Laurent
United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel
Oreca 07 LMP2 7 3'32.347 5.753
15 25 United States John Falb
Spain Roberto Merhi
Portugal Rui Andrade
Aurus 01 LMP2 33 3'32.362 5.768
16 26 Russian Federation Roman Rusinov
Argentina Franco Colapinto
Netherlands Nyck de Vries
Aurus 01 LMP2 33 3'32.397 5.803
17 70 Switzerland Esteban Garcia
France Loic Duval
France Norman Nato
Oreca 07 LMP2 33 3'32.398 5.804
18 29 Netherlands Frits van Eerd
Netherlands Giedo van der Garde
Netherlands Job Van Uitert
Oreca 07 LMP2 31 3'32.648 6.054
19 28 Indonesia Sean Gelael
Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne
United Kingdom Tom Blomqvist
Oreca 07 LMP2 35 3'32.693 6.099
20 24 United States Patrick Kelly
France Gabriel Aubry
Switzerland Simon Trummer
Oreca 07 LMP2 33 3'32.798 6.204
21 48 France Paul Lafargue
France Paul-Loup Chatin
France Patrick Pilet
Oreca 07 LMP2 30 3'33.119 6.525
22 32 France Nico Jamin
South Africa Jonathan Aberdein
Venezuela Manuel Maldonado
Oreca 07 LMP2 26 3'33.328 6.734
23 30 Austria Rene Binder
Mexico Memo Rojas
France Tristan Gommendy
Oreca 07 LMP2 14 3'33.528 6.934
24 20 Denmark Dennis Andersen
United States Ricky Taylor
Denmark Marco Sorensen
Oreca 07 LMP2 25 3'33.578 6.984
25 1 Colombia Tatiana Calderon
Germany Sophia Flörsch
Netherlands Beitske Visser
Oreca 07 LMP2 15 3'34.688 8.094
26 49 Denmark Anders Fjordbach
Denmark Jan Magnussen
Denmark Kevin Magnussen
Oreca 07 LMP2 32 3'35.520 8.926
27 84 Japan Takuma Aoki
Belgium Nigel Bailly
France Matthieu Lahaye
Oreca 07 INNOVATIVE CAR 33 3'36.877 10.283
28 709 Australia Ryan Briscoe
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook
France Romain Dumas
Glickenhaus 007 LMH HYPERCAR 12 3'36.941 10.347
29 39 France Vincent Capillaire
France Arnold Robin
France Maxime Robin
Oreca 07 LMP2 33 3'37.031 10.437
30 74 United Kingdom James Winslow
Australia John Corbett
Belgium Tom Cloet
Ligier JSP 217 LMP2 29 3'43.673 17.079
31 44 Slovakia Miro Konopka
United Kingdom Oliver Webb
Slovakia Matej Konopka
Oreca 07 LMP2 17 3'47.444 20.850
32 92 France Kevin Estre
Switzerland Neel Jani
Denmark Michael Christensen
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE PRO 30 3'48.126 21.532
33 79 United States Cooper MacNeil
New Zealand Earl Bamber
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE PRO 23 3'49.435 22.841
34 91 Italy Gianmaria Bruni
Austria Richard Lietz
France Frédéric Makowiecki
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE PRO 32 3'49.789 23.195
35 88 France Julien Andlauer
United States Dominique Bastien
Germany Lance David Arnold
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 31 3'50.167 23.573
36 51 Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi
United Kingdom James Calado
France Côme Ledogar
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 25 3'50.311 23.717
37 52 Brazil Daniel Serra
Spain Miguel Molina
United Kingdom Sam Bird
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 23 3'50.379 23.785
38 72 Belgium Dries Vanthoor
Portugal Alvaro Parente
Belgium Maxime Martin
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE PRO 22 3'50.631 24.037
39 56 Norway Egidio Perfetti
Italy Matteo Cairoli
Italy Riccardo Pera
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 28 3'50.792 24.198
40 77 Germany Christian Ried
Australia Jaxon Evans
Australia Matt Campbell
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 27 3'50.823 24.229
41 64 United States Tommy Milner
United Kingdom Nick Tandy
United Kingdom Alexander Sims
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R LMGTE PRO 28 3'51.012 24.418
42 99 United Kingdom Harry Tincknell
Thailand Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak
France Florian Latorre
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 30 3'51.212 24.618
43 63 Spain Antonio Garcia
United States Jordan Taylor
Netherlands Nick Catsburg
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R LMGTE PRO 26 3'51.327 24.733
44 83 France François Perrodo
Denmark Nicklas Nielsen
Italy Alessio Rovera
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 28 3'51.424 24.830
45 54 Switzerland Thomas Flohr
Italy Giancarlo Fisichella
Italy Francesco Castellacci
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 30 3'51.489 24.895
46 85 Switzerland Rahel Frey
Belgium Sarah Bovy
Denmark Michelle Gatting
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 14 3'51.703 25.109
47 86 United Kingdom Michael Wainwright
United Kingdom Benjamin Barker
United Kingdom Tom Gamble
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 29 3'51.802 25.208
48 55 United Kingdom Duncan Cameron
South Africa David Perel
Ireland Matthew Griffin
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 32 3'51.909 25.315
49 18 Indonesia Andrew Haryanto
Belgium Alessio Picariello
Germany Marco Seefried
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 16 3'52.011 25.417
50 33 United States Ben Keating
Luxembourg Dylan Pereira
Brazil Felipe Fraga
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 23 3'52.084 25.490
51 98 Canada Paul Dalla Lana
Denmark Nicki Thiim
Brazil Marcos Gomes
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 35 3'52.171 25.577
52 60 Italy Claudio Schiavoni
Italy Paolo Ruberti
Italy Raffaele Giammaria
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 31 3'52.447 25.853
53 57 Japan Takeshi Kimura
Australia Scott Andrews
Denmark Mikkel Jensen
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 33 3'52.471 25.877
54 47 Italy Roberto Lacorte
Italy Giorgio Sernagiotto
Italy Antonio Fuoco
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 30 3'52.532 25.938
55 95 United Kingdom John Hartshorne
United Kingdom Ollie Hancock
United Kingdom Ross Gunn
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 31 3'52.712 26.118
56 80 Italy Matteo Cressoni
Italy Rino Mastronardi
United Kingdom Callum Ilott
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 34 3'53.020 26.426
57 777 Japan Satoshi Hoshino
Japan Tomonobu Fujii
United Kingdom Andrew Watson
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 26 3'53.423 26.829
58 66 France Thomas Neubauer
United States Rodrigo Sales
United Kingdom Jody Fannin
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 32 3'54.159 27.565
59 69 Germany Robert Renauer
Germany Ralf Bohn
Switzerland Rolf Ineichen
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 30 3'54.773 28.179
60 46 Norway Dennis Olsen
Norway Anders Buchardt
United States Robby Foley
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 23 3'56.561 29.967
61 71 United States Brendan Iribe
United Kingdom Ollie Millroy
United Kingdom Ben Barnicoat
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 12 3'56.576 29.982
62 388 Germany Pierre Ehret
Germany Christian Hook
Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 22 3'58.989 32.395

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