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 |
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