Nurburgring WEC: Audi leads Porsche in first practice
Audi and Porsche were separated by just seven hundredths of a second on the resumption of the World Endurance Championship with opening free practice at the Nurburgring
Andre Lotterer topped the times for Audi with a 1m39.201s aboard the #7 R18 e-tron, which put him 0.76 seconds clear of a 1m39.277s from the Porsche 919 Hybrid of Neel Jani.
The #8 Audi took third spot in the 90-minute session, which began on a damp track that quickly dried, with a 1m39.910s from Loic Duval.
The second Porsche ended up fourth in the hands of Timo Bernhard, who set a 1m49.915s.
The two Toyota TS040 HYBRIDs took fifth and sixth spots, Stephane Sarrazin's best of 1m41.812s for the Japanese marque leaving him more than 2.5s off the pace.
Gustavo Yacaman headed LMP2 aboard his G-Drive Ligier-Nissan JSP2 on a 1m46.631s, which was good enough to put him a second clear of team-mate Sam Bird.
The GTE Pro order was led by the two factory AF Corse factory Ferrari 458 Italias, Gianmaria Bruni's 3m55.661s putting him him four tenths ahead of team-mate Davide Rigon.
GTE Am was led by the AF-run Ferrari driven by Rui Aguas.
PRACTICE ONE TIMES:
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP1 | M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 1m39.201s | - |
| 2 | LMP1 | R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb | Porsche Team | Porsche | 1m39.277s | 0.076s |
| 3 | LMP1 | L.di Grassi, L.Duval, O.Jarvis | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 1m39.910s | 0.709s |
| 4 | LMP1 | T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley | Porsche Team | Porsche | 1m39.915s | 0.714s |
| 5 | LMP1 | A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 1m41.812s | 2.611s |
| 6 | LMP1 | A.Davidson, S.Buemi, K.Nakajima | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 1m42.541s | 3.340s |
| 7 | LMP2 | G.Yacaman, P.Derani, R.Gonzalez | G-Drive Racing | Ligier/Nissan | 1m46.631s | 7.430s |
| 8 | LMP1 | N.Prost, M.Beche, N.Heidfeld | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/AER | 1m47.433s | 8.232s |
| 9 | LMP2 | R.Rusinov, J.Canal, S.Bird | G-Drive Racing | Ligier/Nissan | 1m47.623s | 8.422s |
| 10 | LMP1 | A.Imperatori, D.Kraihamer, D.Abt | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/AER | 1m49.171s | 9.970s |
| 11 | LMP2 | N.Leventis, D.Watts, J.Kane | Strakka Racing | Gibson/Nissan | 1m49.242s | 10.041s |
| 12 | LMP1 | S.Trummer, P.Kaffer | Team ByKolles | CLM/AER | 1m49.274s | 10.073s |
| 13 | LMP2 | N.Panciatici, P-L.Chatin, V.Capillaire | Signatech Alpine | Alpine/Nissan | 1m49.490s | 10.289s |
| 14 | LMP2 | S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, D.H.Hansson | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/HPD | 1m50.096s | 10.895s |
| 15 | LMP2 | M.Howson, R.Bradley, N.Tandy | KCMG | ORECA/Nissan | 1m53.098s | 13.897s |
| 16 | LMP2 | E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, J.Fogarty | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/HPD | 1m54.076s | 14.875s |
| 17 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, T.Vilander | AF Corse | Ferrari | 1m55.661s | 16.460s |
| 18 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, J.Calado | AF Corse | Ferrari | 1m56.035s | 16.834s |
| 19 | GTE Pro | P.Pilet, F.Makowiecki | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 1m56.956s | 17.755s |
| 20 | GTE Pro | R.Lietz, M.Christensen | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 1m57.213s | 18.012s |
| 21 | GTE Pro | F.Rees, A.MacDowall, R.Stanaway | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m57.295s | 18.094s |
| 22 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, R.Aguas | AF Corse | Ferrari | 1m57.876s | 18.675s |
| 23 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m58.019s | 18.818s |
| 24 | GTE Pro | D.Turner, S.Mucke, J.Adam | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m58.320s | 19.119s |
| 25 | GTE Am | C.Ried, K.Al Qubaisi, E.Bamber | Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing | Porsche | 1m59.034s | 19.833s |
| 26 | GTE Am | P.Dempsey, P.Long, M.Seefried | Dempsey Racing - Proton | Porsche | 1m59.074s | 19.873s |
| 27 | GTE Pro | M.Sorensen, C.Nygaard | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m59.150s | 19.949s |
| 28 | GTE Am | G.Roda, P.Ruberti, K.Poulsen | Larbre Competition | Chevrolet | 1m59.220s | 20.019s |
| 29 | GTE Am | F.Castellacci, R.Goethe, S.Hall | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m59.812s | 20.611s |
| 30 | GTE Am | V.Shaytar, A.Bertolini, A.Basov | SMP Racing | Ferrari | 2m07.291s | 28.090s |
| 31 | LMP2 | P.Ragues, O.Webb, A.Hamilton | Team SARD Morand | Morgan/SARD | - | - |
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