Silverstone WEC: Fernando Alonso fastest in final practice
Fernando Alonso set the quickest time in third practice for the World Endurance Championship round at Silverstone, while the two SMP Racing entries split the Toyotas

Alonso enjoyed a near-traffic-free lap at the start of the hour-long session to record a best time of 1m37.677s in the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, almost a second up on Jose Maria Lopez's Friday benchmark.
It was enough to top the session by 1.649s, as both SMP BR Engineering BR1s beat the #7 Toyota - whose best time of 1m40.033s was again set by Lopez.
Jenson Button was first to split the Toyotas in the #11 car with a 1m39.762s, but this was eclipsed by Stephane Sarrazin's effort of 1m39.326s in the sister #17 machine.
Rebellion Racing could only manage fifth and sixth with its pair of Gibson-powered R-13s, with Mathias Beche's best time in the #3 car in the early stages 3.8s off the pace.
Andre Lotterer was a further seven tenths back in the #1 machine that sat out Friday's second session in the wake of Bruno Senna's ankle-breaking crash.
Rounding out the LMP1 order were the #10 DragonSpeed BR1-Gibson and the #4 ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01, which also had to miss second practice after suffering an oil leak in the opening session.
Debris on track at Becketts meant the session was red-flagged with three minutes left on the clock and was not resumed.

Matthieu Vaxiviere kept the #28 TDS Racing ORECA at the head of the times in LMP2 with a best time of 1m44.247s.
Jackie Chan DC Racing's pair of ORECAs were next up, Nabil Jeffri in the #37 leading Stephane Richelmi in the #38, followed by Pastor Maldonado in the #31 DragonSpeed ORECA.
Ford locked out the top two positions in GTE Pro, with Harry Tincknell's 1m55.197s effort in the #67 car edging out Stefan Mucke in the #66 GT by six tenths.
Aston Martin continued its improved form with the third-best time, 1.2s off the pace with Nicki Thiim at the wheel of the #95, followed by the best of the Ferrari 488 GTEs in fourth and the lead Porsche 911 RSR in fifth.
BMW enjoyed a brief spell at the head of the times midway through the session before dropping back to seventh.
GTE Am was led by Aston Martin courtesy of an early 1m58.460s lap by ex-Formula 1 driver Pedro Lamy.
Watch the Silverstone WEC race live with Motorsport.TV On Demand
FP3 times
Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LMP1 | S.Buemi, K.Nakajima, F.Alonso | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota | 1m37.677s | - | 31 |
2 | LMP1 | S.Sarrazin, E.Orudzhev | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/AER | 1m39.326s | 1.649s | 23 |
3 | LMP1 | M.Aleshin, V.Petrov, J.Button | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/AER | 1m39.762s | 2.085s | 22 |
4 | LMP1 | M.Conway, K.Kobayashi, J.M.Lopez | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota | 1m40.033s | 2.356s | 28 |
5 | LMP1 | M.Beche, T.Laurent, G.Menezes | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Gibson | 1m41.557s | 3.880s | 23 |
6 | LMP1 | N.Jani, A.Lotterer, B.Senna | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Gibson | 1m42.208s | 4.531s | 25 |
7 | LMP1 | H.Hedman, B.Hanley, R.van der Zande | DragonSpeed | BR Engineering/Gibson | 1m43.244s | 5.567s | 24 |
8 | LMP1 | O.Webb, R.Binder | ByKOLLES Racing Team | ENSO CLM/NISMO | 1m43.606s | 5.929s | 18 |
9 | LMP2 | F.Perrodo, M.Vaxiviere, L.Duval | TDS Racing | ORECA/Gibson | 1m44.247s | 6.570s | 26 |
10 | LMP2 | J.Jaafar, W.Tan, N.Jeffri | Jackie Chan DC Racing | ORECA/Gibson | 1m44.889s | 7.212s | 25 |
11 | LMP2 | H-Pin Tung, G.Aubry, S.Richelmi | Jackie Chan DC Racing | ORECA/Gibson | 1m45.569s | 7.892s | 24 |
12 | LMP2 | R.Gonzalez, P.Maldonado, A.Davidson | DragonSpeed | ORECA/Gibson | 1m45.815s | 8.138s | 29 |
13 | LMP2 | F.van Eerd, G.van der Garde, N.de Vries | Racing Team Nederland | Dallara/Gibson | 1m46.576s | 8.899s | 27 |
14 | LMP2 | N.Lapierre, A.Negrao, P.Thiriet | Signatech Alpine Matmut | Alpine/Gibson | 1m46.763s | 9.086s | 23 |
15 | LMP2 | E.Creed, R.Ricci, Y.Mori | Larbre Competition | Alpine/Gibson | 1m48.735s | 11.058s | 18 |
16 | GTE Pro | A.Priaulx, H.Tincknell | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Ford | 1m55.197s | 17.520s | 25 |
17 | GTE Pro | S.Mucke, O.Pla | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Ford | 1m55.798s | 18.121s | 23 |
18 | GTE Pro | M.Sorensen, N.Thiim | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m56.408s | 18.731s | 22 |
19 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, S.Bird | AF Corse | Ferrari | 1m56.629s | 18.952s | 27 |
20 | GTE Pro | R.Lietz, G.Bruni | Porsche GT Team | Porsche | 1m56.670s | 18.993s | 23 |
21 | GTE Pro | A.P.Guidi, J.Calado | AF Corse | Ferrari | 1m56.761s | 19.084s | 24 |
22 | GTE Pro | A.Farfus, A.F.da Costa | BMW Team MTEK | BMW | 1m56.862s | 19.185s | 22 |
23 | GTE Pro | A.Lynn, M.Martin | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m56.879s | 19.202s | 24 |
24 | GTE Pro | M.Tomczyk, N.Catsburg | BMW Team MTEK | BMW | 1m56.916s | 19.239s | 24 |
25 | GTE Pro | M.Christensen, K.Estre | Porsche GT Team | Porsche | 1m58.149s | 20.472s | 23 |
26 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m58.460s | 20.783s | 25 |
27 | GTE Am | M.Ishikawa, O.Beretta, E.Cheever | MR Racing | Ferrari | 1m58.505s | 20.828s | 24 |
28 | GTE Am | C.Ried, J.Andlauer, M.Campbell | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Porsche | 1m58.948s | 21.271s | 23 |
29 | GTE Am | T.Flohr, F.Castellacci, G.Fisichella | Spirit of Race | Ferrari | 1m59.104s | 21.427s | 25 |
30 | GTE Am | G.Roda, G.Roda, M.Cairoli | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Porsche | 1m59.112s | 21.435s | 22 |
31 | GTE Am | S.Yoluc, J.Adam, C.Eastwood | TF Sport | Aston Martin | 1m59.365s | 21.688s | 25 |
32 | GTE Am | M.Wainwright, B.Barker, A.Davison | Gulf Racing | Porsche | 1m59.621s | 21.944s | 23 |
33 | GTE Am | J.Bergmeister, P.Lindsey, E.Perfetti | Team Project 1 | Porsche | 1m59.788s | 22.111s | 24 |
34 | GTE Am | Mok W.S., K.Sawa, M.Griffin | Clearwater Racing | Ferrari | 2m00.424s | 22.747s | 25 |

Previous article
Silverstone WEC: Lopez fastest as Toyota extends its advantage
Next article
Rebellion WEC team in survival mode at Silverstone after Senna crash

About this article
Series | WEC |
Drivers | Fernando Alonso |
Author | Jamie Klein |
Silverstone WEC: Fernando Alonso fastest in final practice
Trending
How 'Brilliant' Bob Wollek lived up to his nickname
Sportscar racing lost one of it's greatest talents 20 years ago today when Bob Wollek was knocked from his bicycle prior to the Sebring 12 Hours. The enigmatic Frenchman never won the Le Mans 24 Hours, but many still remember today why 'Brilliant Bob' became a legend
Top 10 moments of an underrated British great
Brian Redman was one of the best sportscar drivers of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as a three-time champion on the fearsome American Formula 5000 scene. To celebrate his 84th birthday Autosport contacted him about his best races – and he decided to write the piece himself…
How an endurance racing boom could help one of LMP2's top teams
The G-Drive squad has been a mainstay of endurance racing in recent years, and has linked up with Russian manufacturer Aurus in recent years to promote its brand. With a change of rules in endurance racing's top tables, the team could be well-placed to take advantage of a potential boom...
How Ferrari’s Hypercar project could bolster Leclerc’s legacy
OPINION: Ferrari's planned return to the top category at the Le Mans 24 Hours has further heightened anticipation for the 2023 race. Few concrete details are currently known, but already it has a high-profile superstar angling for involvement, which would make a refreshing change
Why Ferrari is ending its 50-year top-flight sportscar exile
Making a return to top-flight sportscar racing after 50 years away, Ferrari will enter the Le Mans Hypercar ranks in 2023. The Italian marque denies the link with Formula 1's new cost cap that frees up resources, but it's certainly no coincidence...
The ground-up refresh behind Toyota's new Le Mans challenger
Toyota's new GR010 contender for the World Endurance Championship's Hypercar era has little in common with the LMP1 TS050 that preceded it. But within the confines of the scaled back new rules, its latest challenger will be no less formidable a prospect
The Porsche icon that forged sportscar racing's greatest era
Porsche is returning to the top class of Le Mans with an LMDh prototype that it hopes will write its next successful chapter in sportscar racing. But it will have to go some to emulate its 956/962, a car which defines the Group C age more than any other
How Kristensen forged the Mr Le Mans legend
He is synonymous with success at the Circuit de la Sarthe, but Tom Kristensen's sportscar legacy amounts to much more than his record-breaking nine Le Mans wins, as the most successful driver ever at Sebring and a world champion to boot