Silverstone WEC: Lopez fastest as Toyota extends its advantage
The #7 Toyota extended its gap at the front of the field in second free practice for this weekend's Silverstone World Endurance Championship event
This time with Jose Maria Lopez at the wheel, the #7 beat the sister car of Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso by nearly 1.4 seconds and ended up 1.6s clear of the fastest privateer.
Lopez, who shares with Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway, posted a 1m38.536s early in the 90-minute practice period, which compared with Nakajima's session best of 1m38.893s.
The fastest of the LMP1 privateers was the #17 SMP Racing BR Engineering BR1.
Egor Orudzhev recorded a 1m40.179s in the AER-powered car to end up more than a second ahead of the next best privateer, the #3 Rebellion-Gibson R-13 entry, despite briefly stopping on track with electrical problems.
Thomas Laurent's 1m41.369s was four tenths down on the first session best from the car in the hands of Gustavo Menezes.
The second of the SMP entries took fifth with Vitaly Petrov driving, ahead of Ben Hanley in DragonSpeed's Gibson-engined BRE.
The #1 Rebellion, in which Bruno Senna suffered a fractured ankle after crashing in the opening session, did not run as it continued to undergo repairs.
The ByKolles ENSO CLM-Nissan P1/01 also didn't take to the track after suffering an oil leak in the first practice period.
The Jota-run Jackie Chan DC Racing squad topped the LMP2 class times.
Gabriel Aubry ended up fastest in the team's #38 ORECA-Gibson 07 with a 1m45.311s.
The Signatech Alpine ORECA took second with a 1m45.751s from Nicolas Lapierre, which just edged out Matthieu Vaxiviere's 1m45.818s in the TDS entry.
Ford returned to the top of the GTE Pro times in the closing minutes of the session courtesy of 1m56.898s from Harry Tincknell.
That vaulted him ahead of the two Aston Martin Vantage GTEs, which had headed the times in the middle of the session first with Marco Sorensen and then Alex Lynn.
Lynn ended up second in the 1m57.026s, while Stefan Mucke jumped to third with a 1m57.182s in the second Ford.
Andy Priaulx and Olivier Pla had topped the times initially in the two Ganassi Fords.
Ferrari led the chasing pack courtesy of a 1m58.190s from James Calado as the Italian manufacturer and Porsche filled out the next four positions in class.
Matteo Cairoli was fastest in GTE Am in his Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR.
Watch the Silverstone WEC race live with Motorsport.TV On Demand
FP2 times
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP1 | M.Conway, K.Kobayashi, J.M.Lopez | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota | 1m38.536s | - | 48 |
| 2 | LMP1 | S.Buemi, K.Nakajima, F.Alonso | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota | 1m39.893s | 1.357s | 47 |
| 3 | LMP1 | S.Sarrazin, E.Orudzhev | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/AER | 1m40.179s | 1.643s | 27 |
| 4 | LMP1 | M.Beche, T.Laurent, G.Menezes | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Gibson | 1m41.369s | 2.833s | 32 |
| 5 | LMP1 | M.Aleshin, V.Petrov, J.Button | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/AER | 1m41.587s | 3.051s | 40 |
| 6 | LMP1 | H.Hedman, B.Hanley, R.van der Zande | DragonSpeed | BR Engineering/Gibson | 1m43.449s | 4.913s | 21 |
| 7 | LMP2 | H-Pin Tung, G.Aubry, S.Richelmi | Jackie Chan DC Racing | ORECA/Gibson | 1m45.311s | 6.775s | 43 |
| 8 | LMP2 | N.Lapierre, A.Negrao, P.Thiriet | Signatech Alpine Matmut | Alpine/Gibson | 1m45.751s | 7.215s | 43 |
| 9 | LMP2 | F.Perrodo, M.Vaxiviere, L.Duval | TDS Racing | ORECA/Gibson | 1m45.818s | 7.282s | 42 |
| 10 | LMP2 | J.Jaafar, W.Tan, N.Jeffri | Jackie Chan DC Racing | ORECA/Gibson | 1m46.074s | 7.538s | 36 |
| 11 | LMP2 | R.Gonzalez, P.Maldonado, A.Davidson | DragonSpeed | ORECA/Gibson | 1m47.069s | 8.533s | 36 |
| 12 | LMP2 | F.van Eerd, G.van der Garde, N.de Vries | Racing Team Nederland | Dallara/Gibson | 1m47.601s | 9.065s | 37 |
| 13 | LMP2 | E.Creed, R.Ricci, Y.Mori | Larbre Competition | Alpine/Gibson | 1m49.486s | 10.950s | 41 |
| 14 | GTE Pro | A.Priaulx, H.Tincknell | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Ford | 1m56.898s | 18.362s | 43 |
| 15 | GTE Pro | A.Lynn, M.Martin | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m57.026s | 18.490s | 38 |
| 16 | GTE Pro | S.Mucke, O.Pla | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Ford | 1m57.182s | 18.646s | 44 |
| 17 | GTE Pro | M.Sorensen, N.Thiim | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m57.281s | 18.745s | 34 |
| 18 | GTE Pro | A.P.Guidi, J.Calado | AF Corse | Ferrari | 1m58.190s | 19.654s | 39 |
| 19 | GTE Pro | M.Christensen, K.Estre | Porsche GT Team | Porsche | 1m58.288s | 19.752s | 31 |
| 20 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, S.Bird | AF Corse | Ferrari | 1m58.606s | 20.070s | 39 |
| 21 | GTE Pro | R.Lietz, G.Bruni | Porsche GT Team | Porsche | 1m58.869s | 20.333s | 21 |
| 22 | GTE Pro | A.Farfus, A.F.da Costa | BMW Team MTEK | BMW | 1m58.893s | 20.357s | 35 |
| 23 | GTE Pro | M.Tomczyk, N.Catsburg | BMW Team MTEK | BMW | 1m58.950s | 20.414s | 35 |
| 24 | GTE Am | G.Roda, G.Roda, M.Cairoli | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Porsche | 1m59.105s | 20.569s | 37 |
| 25 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 1m59.378s | 20.842s | 38 |
| 26 | GTE Am | C.Ried, J.Andlauer, M.Campbell | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Porsche | 1m59.449s | 20.913s | 32 |
| 27 | GTE Am | M.Wainwright, B.Barker, A.Davison | Gulf Racing | Porsche | 1m59.476s | 20.940s | 34 |
| 28 | GTE Am | T.Flohr, F.Castellacci, G.Fisichella | Spirit of Race | Ferrari | 1m59.716s | 21.180s | 39 |
| 29 | GTE Am | J.Bergmeister, P.Lindsey, E.Perfetti | Team Project 1 | Porsche | 1m59.760s | 21.224s | 40 |
| 30 | GTE Am | S.Yoluc, J.Adam, C.Eastwood | TF Sport | Aston Martin | 1m59.953s | 21.417s | 31 |
| 31 | GTE Am | M.Ishikawa, O.Beretta, E.Cheever | MR Racing | Ferrari | 1m59.984s | 21.448s | 36 |
| 32 | GTE Am | Mok W.S., K.Sawa, M.Griffin | Clearwater Racing | Ferrari | 2m00.213s | 21.677s | 37 |
| 33 | LMP1 | N.Jani, A.Lotterer, B.Senna | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Gibson | - | - | 0 |
| 34 | LMP1 | O.Webb, R.Binder | ByKOLLES Racing Team | ENSO CLM/NISMO | - | - | 0 |
Previous article
Ex-F1 driver Jenson Button hopes Silverstone podium jinx ends in WEC
Next article
Silverstone WEC: Fernando Alonso fastest in final practice
About this article
| Series | WEC |
| Drivers | Jose Maria Lopez |
| Teams | Toyota Racing |
| Author | Gary Watkins |
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
