Austin WEC: Audi leads final practice with Loic Duval
Audi remained on top in the dry during final free practice for this weekend's round of the World Endurance Championship at Austin


The #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro topped the times in the 60-minute session in the hands of Loic Duval with a 1m49.480s.
That put him over half a second up on team-mate Marcel Fassler in the #2 car on a 1m50.160s.
Third place was taken right at the end of the session by the best of the Toyota TS040 HYBRIDs on a 1m50.677s set by Nicolas Lapierre.
His time leapfrogged him ahead of the fastest Porsche 919 Hybrid, which ended up on a 1m50.976s thanks to Neel Jani.
The OAK/G-Drive Ligier-Nissan JSP2 led the way in LMP2 with Olivier Pla at the wheel.
His time of 1m56.601s was eight tenths faster than the second-placed KCMG ORECA-Nissan 03R driven by Richard Bradley.
The #99 Aston Martin Racing entry led the way in GTE Pro with Fernando Rees at the wheel.
The Brazilian's time of 2m05.382s eclipsed team-mate Stefan Mucke in the second Pro class Aston Martin Vantage GTE by four hundredths of a second.
Gianmaria Bruni was third fastest in the lead AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia a similar margin back.
Pedro Lamy was fastest in GTE Am for Aston Martin on a 2m06.198s.
PRACTICE THREE TIMES:
Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LMP1 | L.di Grassi, L.Duval, T.Kristensen | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 1m49.480s |
2 | LMP1 | M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 1m50.160s |
3 | LMP1 | A.Davidson, N.Lapierre, S.Buemi | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 1m50.677s |
4 | LMP1 | R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb | Porsche Team | Porsche | 1m50.976s |
5 | LMP1 | A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 1m51.506s |
6 | LMP1 | T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley | Porsche Team | Porsche | 1m51.828s |
7 | LMP1 | N.Prost, N.Heidfeld, M.Beche | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Toyota | 1m54.417s |
8 | LMP1 | D.Kraihamer, A.Belicchi, F.Leimer | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Toyota | 1m56.107s |
9 | LMP2 | R.Rusinov, O.Pla, J.Canal | G-Drive Racing | Morgan/Nissan | 1m56.601s |
10 | LMP2 | M.Howson, R.Bradley, T.Matsuda | KCMG | ORECA/Nissan | 1m57.438s |
11 | LMP2 | S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, E.Brown | Extreme Speed Motorsports | HPD | 1m58.004s |
12 | LMP2 | S.Zlobin, N.Minassian, M.Mediani | SMP Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 1m58.524s |
13 | LMP2 | K.Ladygin, V.Shaytar, A.Ladygin | SMP Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 1m58.993s |
14 | LMP1 | C.Bouchut, J.Rossiter, L.Auer | Lotus/AER | 2m01.558s | |
15 | GTE Pro | A.MacDowall, D.O'Young, F.Rees | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m05.382s |
16 | GTE Pro | D.Turner, S.Mucke | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m05.422s |
17 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, T.Vilander | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m05.480s |
18 | GTE Pro | F.Makowiecki, P.Pilet | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 2m05.828s |
19 | GTE Pro | J.Bergmeister, N.Tandy | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 2m06.097s |
20 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, C.Nygaard | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m06.198s |
21 | GTE Am | G.Roda, P.Ruberti, J.Segal | 8 Star Motorsports | Ferrari | 2m06.230s |
22 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, J.Calado | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m06.509s |
23 | GTE Am | K.Poulsen, D.H.Hansson, R.Stanaway | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 2m06.596s |
24 | GTE Am | S.Wyatt, M.Rugolo, A.Bertolini | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m06.984s |
25 | GTE Pro | R.Taylor, J.Taylor, T.Milner | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | 2m07.106s |
26 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, M.Vaxiviere | Prospeed Competition | Porsche | 2m07.158s |
27 | GTE Am | T.Krohn, N.Jonsson, B.Collins | Krohn Racing | Ferrari | 2m07.223s |
28 | GTE Am | L.P.-Companc, M.Cioci, M.Venturi | AF Corse | Ferrari | 2m07.282s |
29 | GTE Am | C.Ried, K.Bachler, K.Al Qubaisi | Proton Competition | Porsche | 2m07.293s |

Nissan's 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours and WEC LMP1 car to run in November
Austin WEC: Anthony Davidson/Sebastien Buemi put Toyota on pole

Latest news
Tanak scores first Puma win in preparation for WRC Rally Sweden
Ott Tanak claimed his first victory driving an M-Sport Ford Puma after winning the Otepaa Winter Rally in preparation for next week’s World Rally Championship round in Sweden.
Ranking the worst Formula 1 cars to win a grand prix
Cars that rarely looked like contenders for victory have occasionally slipped through the net to become winners of world championship Formula 1 races. But which was the worst of the bunch?
Schumacher radio criticism highlighted F1 privacy change for Russell
George Russell says that the way an off-the-cuff radio remark criticising Mick Schumacher last year became a big deal shows how he is more under the spotlight in Formula 1.
Newgarden impressed by Chevrolet on IndyCar's new renewable fuel
Two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden says he’s been impressed with the drivability of his Chevrolet engine following the switch to renewable fuel and has seen no loss in performance.
Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
OPINION: There is plenty of excitement over the glut of manufacturers tackling the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship this season. The selection committee is set to face headaches over who it decides to admit and who gets turned away from the 2023 entry list, but history tells us that the smaller entrants have a place
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
OPINION: Fresh from hosting a controversial 2022 football World Cup, Qatar has added its name to the 2024 World Endurance Championship calendar. Although questions may be asked about its presence on the calendar, is it simply the price to pay for having a healthy racing championship?
How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
Toyota #8 trio Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa outscored their rivals in the last season before the World Endurance Championship’s top class gets ultra-competitive. Here's how their Hypercar battle with Alpine and the remaining class tussles played out in LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, were voted as Autosport's greatest sportscar in 2020 - here's why
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad
The problem sausage kerbs continue to cause
Track limits are the problem that motorsport doesn't seem to be able to rid itself of. But the use of so-called 'sausage kerbs' as a deterrent has in several instances only served to worsen the problem, and a growing number of voices want to see action taken
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.