Austin WEC: Audi and Toyota top a practice session each on Thursday
Audi and Toyota shared the honours in free practice on the opening day of the Austin round of the World Endurance Championship
Marcel Fassler topped the times in the opening session, run in dry conditions, in the #2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro.
Anthony Davidson then claimed top spot in a delayed wet session, held under the cover of darkness, aboard the #8 Toyota TS040 HYBRID.
Fassler went fastest in the dry session with a 1m51.136s, which put him just 0.187 seconds ahead of team-mate Lucas di Grassi on a 1m51.323s.
Mark Webber ended up third fastest in the best of the Porsche 919 Hybrids, which are running in high-downforce specification for the first time this weekend.
The Australian driver's 1m51.919s was half a second quicker than fourth-placed Alex Wurz in the leading Toyota.
Audi was on top on a drying track in the night session when the chequered flag came out, before Anthony Davidson crossed the line to post a 2m01.333s.
His time on intermediate Michelin tyres bettered Tom Kristensen's previous mark in the #1 Audi, set on wets, by more than a second and a half.
The session had been delayed by an hour by a thunderstorm, which prevented the marshals from taking up their posts under local bylaws.
The LMP2 class was led by the Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD-Honda ARX-03b in the hands of Ryan Dalziel, on a 1m58.111s set in the opening session.
That put the one-off WEC entry over a second clear of Olivier Pla in OAK Racing's G-Drive Ligier-Nissan JSP2 in the dry session.
GTE honours were taken by Darren Turner in the best of the Aston Martins, his Pro class Vantage GTE heading the two Am Astons in the hands of Richie Stanaway and Pedro Lamy respectively in the time.
Turner's 2m06.399s put him four tenths up on Toni Vilander's AF Corse Ferrari in the GTE Pro times.
PRACTICE ONE:
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP1 | M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 1m51.136s |
| 2 | LMP1 | L.di Grassi, L.Duval, T.Kristensen | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 1m51.323s |
| 3 | LMP1 | T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley | Porsche Team | Porsche | 1m51.919s |
| 4 | LMP1 | A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 1m52.405s |
| 5 | LMP1 | A.Davidson, N.Lapierre, S.Buemi | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 1m52.657s |
| 6 | LMP1 | R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb | Porsche Team | Porsche | 1m53.020s |
| 7 | LMP1 | N.Prost, N.Heidfeld, M.Beche | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Toyota | 1m57.627s |
| 8 | LMP2 | S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, E.Brown | Extreme Speed Motorsports | HPD | 1m58.111s |
| 9 | LMP2 | R.Rusinov, O.Pla, J.Canal | G-Drive Racing | Morgan/Nissan | 1m59.209s |
| 10 | LMP2 | M.Howson, R.Bradley, T.Matsuda | KCMG | ORECA/Nissan | 1m59.383s |
| 11 | LMP1 | D.Kraihamer, A.Belicchi, F.Leimer | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Toyota | 1m59.609s |
| 12 | LMP2 | S.Zlobin, N.Minassian, M.Mediani | SMP Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 2m00.470s |
| 13 | LMP2 | K.Ladygin, V.Shaytar, A.Ladygin | SMP Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 2m01.075s |
| 14 | LMP1 | C.Bouchut, J.Rossiter, L.Auer | Lotus/AER | 2m01.942s | |
| 15 | GTE Pro | D.Turner, S.Mucke | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m06.399s |
| 16 | GTE Am | K.Poulsen, D.H.Hansson, R.Stanaway | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m06.427s |
| 17 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, C.Nygaard | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m06.770s |
| 18 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, T.Vilander | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m06.806s |
| 19 | GTE Pro | F.Makowiecki, P.Pilet | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 2m07.388s |
| 20 | GTE Pro | J.Bergmeister, N.Tandy | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 2m07.580s |
| 21 | GTE Pro | R.Taylor, J.Taylor, T.Milner | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | 2m07.775s |
| 22 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, J.Calado | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m07.904s |
| 23 | GTE Pro | A.MacDowall, D.O'Young, F.Rees | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m08.094s |
| 24 | GTE Am | G.Roda, P.Ruberti, J.Segal | 8 Star Motorsports | Ferrari | 2m08.392s |
| 25 | GTE Am | S.Wyatt, M.Rugolo, A.Bertolini | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m08.556s |
| 26 | GTE Am | L.P.-Companc, M.Cioci, M.Venturi | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m08.637s |
| 27 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, M.Vaxiviere | Prospeed Competition | Porsche | 2m08.788s |
| 28 | GTE Am | C.Ried, K.Bachler, K.Al Qubaisi | Proton Competition | Porsche | 2m09.414s |
| 29 | GTE Am | T.Krohn, N.Jonsson, B.Collins | Krohn Racing | Ferrari | 2m10.202s |
PRACTICE TWO:
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP1 | A.Davidson, N.Lapierre, S.Buemi | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 2m01.333s |
| 2 | LMP1 | L.di Grassi, L.Duval, T.Kristensen | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 2m02.901s |
| 3 | LMP1 | A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 2m04.419s |
| 4 | LMP1 | M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 2m05.057s |
| 5 | LMP1 | T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley | Porsche Team | Porsche | 2m07.342s |
| 6 | LMP1 | N.Prost, N.Heidfeld, M.Beche | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Toyota | 2m08.957s |
| 7 | LMP1 | D.Kraihamer, A.Belicchi, F.Leimer | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Toyota | 2m09.888s |
| 8 | LMP1 | R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb | Porsche Team | Porsche | 2m11.248s |
| 9 | LMP1 | C.Bouchut, J.Rossiter, L.Auer | Lotus/AER | 2m13.835s | |
| 10 | LMP2 | M.Howson, R.Bradley, T.Matsuda | KCMG | ORECA/Nissan | 2m17.000s |
| 11 | LMP2 | S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, E.Brown | Extreme Speed Motorsports | HPD | 2m17.087s |
| 12 | LMP2 | R.Rusinov, O.Pla, J.Canal | G-Drive Racing | Morgan/Nissan | 2m17.098s |
| 13 | GTE Pro | F.Makowiecki, P.Pilet | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 2m17.588s |
| 14 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, T.Vilander | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m18.195s |
| 15 | GTE Pro | J.Bergmeister, N.Tandy | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 2m18.844s |
| 16 | LMP2 | K.Ladygin, V.Shaytar, A.Ladygin | SMP Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 2m20.670s |
| 17 | GTE Pro | D.Turner, S.Mucke | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m23.618s |
| 18 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, J.Calado | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m23.700s |
| 19 | GTE Am | K.Poulsen, D.H.Hansson, R.Stanaway | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m24.111s |
| 20 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, C.Nygaard | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m24.909s |
| 21 | GTE Pro | R.Taylor, J.Taylor, T.Milner | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | 2m25.155s |
| 22 | GTE Pro | A.MacDowall, D.O'Young, F.Rees | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m25.499s |
| 23 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, M.Vaxiviere | Prospeed Competition | Porsche | 2m26.012s |
| 24 | GTE Am | L.P.-Companc, M.Cioci, M.Venturi | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m26.028s |
| 25 | LMP2 | S.Zlobin, N.Minassian, M.Mediani | SMP Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 2m26.443s |
| 26 | GTE Am | C.Ried, K.Bachler, K.Al Qubaisi | Proton Competition | Porsche | 2m27.335s |
| 27 | GTE Am | S.Wyatt, M.Rugolo, A.Bertolini | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m27.376s |
| 28 | GTE Am | G.Roda, P.Ruberti, J.Segal | 8 Star Motorsports | Ferrari | 2m28.602s |
| 29 | GTE Am | T.Krohn, N.Jonsson, B.Collins | Krohn Racing | Ferrari | 2m32.078s |
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