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Spa WEC: Lieb leads wet practice for Porsche, Hulkenberg fourth

Marc Lieb topped the times for Porsche during a rain-affected first practice session for the Spa round of the World Endurance Championship

The German driver set a best time of 2m16.617s aboard the #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid in the first half of the session, which was stopped for nearly half an hour following an incident involving the Kazuki Nakajima's Toyota and the Audi of Oliver Jarvis.

The Japanese driver has been taken to hospital for checks after complaining of back pain after the clash.

Lieb's time, set on a wet but drying track, put him half a second clear of Anthony Davidson's 2m17.117s in the #1 Toyota TS040 HYBRID he shares with Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi.

Third fastest, a further two tenths back, was Brendon Hartley in the second of the three 919 Hybrids, while Nico Hulkenberg was fourth on his sportscar debut with Porsche.

Rene Rast was the fastest Audi aboard the solo high-downforce R18 e-tron quattro entered for Saturday's race.

A time of 2m20.337s was good enough for fifth and put the German driver 1.2 seconds clear of sixth-placed Loic Duval in the first of the Le Mans-spec low-downforce Audis.

All the leading times were set early in the session before light rain intensified. It was still raining hard when the session restarted for 27 minutes after the Nakajima/Jarvis incident at the end of the Kemmel Straight.

The Srakka Dome-Nissan S103, the only LMP2 runner on Michelin tyres, was quickest in class with Jonny Kane driving.

His time of 2m23.672s put him just over a second clear of the Dunlop-shod Jota Sport Gibson-Nissan 015S in the hands of Harry Tincknell.

Porsche led the way in GTE Pro: Kevin Estre, on loan from McLaren for this race, topped the times on a 2m26.055s, which put him six tenths up on Manthey team-mate Frederic Makowiecki.

It was also quickest in GTE Am with the Proton Porsche 911 RSR driven by Klaus Bachler.

PRACTICE ONE RESULTS:

Pos Class Driver Team Car Time Gap
1 LMP1 R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb Porsche Team Porsche 2m16.616s -
2 LMP1 A.Davidson, S.Buemi, K.Nakajima Toyota Racing Toyota 2m17.117s 0.501s
3 LMP1 T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley Porsche Team Porsche 2m17.309s 0.693s
4 LMP1 N.Hulkenberg, E.Bamber, N.Tandy Porsche Team Porsche 2m18.157s 1.541s
5 LMP1 F.Albuquerque, M.Bonanomi, R.Rast Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 2m20.337s 3.721s
6 LMP1 L.di Grassi, L.Duval, O.Jarvis Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 2m21.552s 4.936s
7 LMP1 A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway Toyota Racing Toyota 2m22.232s 5.616s
8 LMP1 M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 2m23.857s 7.241s
9 LMP2 N.Leventis, D.Watts, J.Kane Strakka Racing Dome/Nissan 2m32.672s 16.056s
10 LMP2 S.Dolan, M.Evans, H.Tincknell JOTA Sport Gibson/Nissan 2m33.887s 17.271s
11 LMP2 G.Yacaman, P.Derani, R.Gonzalez G-Drive Racing Ligier/Nissan 2m33.946s 17.330s
12 LMP2 R.Rusinov, J.Canal, S.Bird G-Drive Racing Ligier/Nissan 2m35.204s 18.588s
13 GTE Pro S.Muller, K.Estre Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 2m36.065s 19.449s
14 LMP2 N.Panciatici, P-L.Chatin, V.Capillaire Signatech Alpine Alpine/Nissan 2m36.452s 19.836s
15 LMP2 P.Ragues, O.Webb, Z.Amberg Team SARD Morand Morgan/SARD 2m36.506s 19.890s
16 GTE Pro F.Makowiecki, R.Lietz Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 2m36.666s 20.050s
17 GTE Pro G.Bruni, T.Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 2m36.698s 20.082s
18 GTE Pro A.MacDowall, F.Rees, R.Stanaway Aston Martin Racing V8 Aston Martin 2m36.709s 20.093s
19 GTE Pro D.Turner, S.Mucke, R.Bell Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 2m37.148s 20.532s
20 LMP2 M.Howson, R.Bradley, N.Lapierre KCMG ORECA/Nissan 2m37.303s 20.687s
21 GTE Pro D.Rigon, J.Calado AF Corse Ferrari 2m37.563s 20.947s
22 GTE Pro C.Nygaard, M.Sorensen, J.Adam Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 2m38.568s 21.952s
23 GTE Am C.Ried, K.Al Qubaisi, K.Bachler Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche 2m39.885s 23.269s
24 GTE Am P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 2m40.459s 23.843s
25 GTE Am D.Cameron, M.Griffin, A.Mortimer AF Corse Ferrari 2m40.559s 23.943s
26 GTE Am V.Shaytar, A.Bertolini, A.Basov SMP Racing Ferrari 2m41.033s 24.417s
27 LMP1 S.Trummer, V.Liuzzi, C.Klien Team ByKolles CLM/AER 2m41.506s 24.890s
28 GTE Am F.Perrodo, E.Collard, R.Aguas AF Corse Ferrari 2m41.526s 24.910s
29 GTE Am G.Roda, P.Ruberti, K.Poulsen Larbre Competition Chevrolet 2m42.824s 26.208s
30 GTE Am F.Castellacci, R.Goethe, S.Hall Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 2m43.369s 26.753s
31 GTE Am P.Dempsey, P.Long, M.Seefried Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 2m43.509s 26.893s
32 LMP2 E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, J.Fogarty Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier/HPD 2m44.395s 27.779s
33 LMP2 S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, D.H.Hansson Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier/HPD 2m44.440s 27.824s
34 LMP2 J.Nicolet, J-M.Merlin, E.Maris Oak Racing Ligier/Nissan 2m45.768s 29.152s


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