WEC Fuji: Webber's Porsche finishes Friday practice on top
Porsche topped the times in the opening practice sessions for Sunday's World Endurance Championship round at Fuji
Mark Webber, who announced on Thursday that he will retire at the end of the season, ended up fastest after the two Friday sessions with a 1m24.074s set during the second 90-minute period.
The #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid finished the day nearly nine tenths up on the second-placed Audi in the hands of Oliver Jarvis.
Jarvis's 1m24.868s was just a tenth up on Andre Lotterer's best in the second of the Audi R18 e-tron quattros in which Marcel Fassler had set the pace in the morning session.
The #7 Audi was involved in an incident at the beginning of the session with Lotterer driving, which resulted in damage to the car's nose.
Marc Lieb took fourth spot in the #2 Porsche with a 1m25.078s set in the second session
The two Toyota TS050 HYBRIDS were fifth and sixth on the combined timesheets.
A 1m25.556s from Kamui Kobayashi that put him second in morning stood as Toyota's best time of the day.
The Japanese driver stopped on track at the end of the session with a suspected hybrid problem.
The RGR Sport squad led the way in LMP2 with a 1m31.909s from Filipe Albuquerque aboard the #43 Ligier-Nissan JSP2.
That put him eight tenths up on the G-Drive ORECA-Nissan 05, which ended up on a 1m32.742s set by Alex Brundle.
Ford was quickest in GTE Pro in both sessions, the #66 car with Stefan Mucke at the wheel ending up fastest with a 1m38.743s set in second practice.
Gianmaria Bruni jumped to second at the end of the afternoon period aboard the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE with a 1m38.935s to move within two tenths of the Ford.
Davide Rigon was just under a tenth further back in third position in the second of the factory AF Ferraris.
Harry Tincknell took fourth in the second of the two Ganassi Ford GTs, in which Andy Priaulx had set the pace in opening practice.
The two works Aston Martin Vantage GTEs, which have been hit by a double performance penalty for this race, took fifth and sixth positions with Marco Sorensen and Richie Stanaway driving.
Pedro Lamy finished the day quickest in GTE Am for Aston Martin.
PRACTICE ONE RESULTS:
Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LMP1 | M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 1m25.030s | 38 |
2 | LMP1 | S.Sarrazin, M.Conway, K.Kobayashi | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota | 0.526s | 35 |
3 | LMP1 | L.di Grassi, L.Duval, O.Jarvis | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 0.808s | 42 |
4 | LMP1 | A.Davidson, S.Buemi, K.Nakajima | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota | 0.855s | 39 |
5 | LMP1 | R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb | Porsche Team | Porsche | 0.932s | 18 |
6 | LMP1 | T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley | Porsche Team | Porsche | 1.067s | 44 |
7 | LMP1 | M.Tuscher, D.Kraihamer, A.Imperatori | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/AER | 5.887s | 36 |
8 | LMP1 | S.Trummer, O.Webb, P.Kaffer | ByKOLLES Racing Team | CLM/AER | 6.519s | 31 |
9 | LMP2 | R.Rusinov, A.Brundle, W.Stevens | G-Drive Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 8.174s | 42 |
10 | LMP2 | R.Dalziel, P.Derani, C.Cumming | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/Nissan | 8.445s | 41 |
11 | LMP2 | J.Kane, L.Williamson | Strakka Racing | Gibson/Nissan | 8.456s | 37 |
12 | LMP2 | R.Gonzalez, B.Senna, F.Albuquerque | RGR Sport by Morand | Ligier/Nissan | 8.497s | 34 |
13 | LMP2 | M.Rao, R.Bradley, R.Merhi | Manor | ORECA/Nissan | 8.646s | 33 |
14 | LMP2 | V.Petrov, V.Shaytar, K.Ladygin | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/Nissan | 9.039s | 39 |
15 | LMP2 | A.Giovinazzi, G.van der Garde, S.Gelael | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/Nissan | 9.220s | 46 |
16 | LMP2 | D.Cheng, H-Pin Tung, P-L.Chatin | Baxi DC Racing Alpine | Alpine/Nissan | 9.286s | 44 |
17 | LMP2 | G.Menezes, N.Lapierre, S.Richelmi | Signatech Alpine | Alpine/Nissan | 9.366s | 40 |
18 | LMP2 | N.Minassian, M.Mediani, M.Aleshin | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/Nissan | 9.473s | 37 |
19 | LMP2 | T.Graves, A.Lynn, S.Nakano | Manor | ORECA/Nissan | 9.788s | 19 |
20 | GTE Pro | A.Priaulx, H.Tincknell | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Ford | 14.186s | 40 |
21 | GTE Pro | R.Lietz, M.Christensen | Dempsey Racing - Proton | Porsche | 14.515s | 40 |
22 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, J.Calado | AF Corse | Ferrari | 14.667s | 42 |
23 | GTE Pro | S.Mucke, O.Pla | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Ford | 14.686s | 39 |
24 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, S.Bird | AF Corse | Ferrari | 14.713s | 43 |
25 | GTE Pro | N.Thiim, M.Sorensen | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 15.146s | 45 |
26 | GTE Pro | R.Stanaway, D.Turner | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 15.560s | 43 |
27 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, R.Aguas | AF Corse | Ferrari | 15.745s | 43 |
28 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 15.905s | 44 |
29 | GTE Am | Y.Yamagishi, P.Ragues, R.Taylor | Larbre Competition | Chevrolet | 16.257s | 41 |
30 | GTE Am | C.Ried, W.Henzler, J.Camathias | KCMG | Porsche | 16.262s | 42 |
31 | GTE Am | K.Al Qubaisi, D.H.Hansson, P.Long | Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing | Porsche | 16.428s | 43 |
32 | GTE Am | M.Wainwright, A.Carroll, B.Barker | Gulf Racing | Porsche | 16.765s | 42 |
PRACTICE TWO RESULTS:
Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LMP1 | T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley | Porsche Team | Porsche | 1m24.074s | 51 |
2 | LMP1 | L.di Grassi, L.Duval, O.Jarvis | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 0.894s | 52 |
3 | LMP1 | M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 0.926s | 32 |
4 | LMP1 | R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb | Porsche Team | Porsche | 1.004s | 46 |
5 | LMP1 | A.Davidson, S.Buemi, K.Nakajima | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota | 1.583s | 43 |
6 | LMP1 | S.Sarrazin, M.Conway, K.Kobayashi | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota | 1.628s | 40 |
7 | LMP1 | M.Tuscher, D.Kraihamer, A.Imperatori | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/AER | 5.579s | 46 |
8 | LMP1 | S.Trummer, O.Webb, P.Kaffer | ByKOLLES Racing Team | CLM/AER | 6.441s | 40 |
9 | LMP2 | R.Gonzalez, B.Senna, F.Albuquerque | RGR Sport by Morand | Ligier/Nissan | 7.835s | 41 |
10 | LMP2 | R.Rusinov, A.Brundle, W.Stevens | G-Drive Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 8.668s | 45 |
11 | LMP2 | M.Rao, R.Bradley, R.Merhi | Manor | ORECA/Nissan | 8.673s | 45 |
12 | LMP2 | J.Kane, L.Williamson | Strakka Racing | Gibson/Nissan | 8.874s | 42 |
13 | LMP2 | A.Giovinazzi, G.van der Garde, S.Gelael | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/Nissan | 8.897s | 27 |
14 | LMP2 | D.Cheng, H-Pin Tung, P-L.Chatin | Baxi DC Racing Alpine | Alpine/Nissan | 9.002s | 45 |
15 | LMP2 | G.Menezes, N.Lapierre, S.Richelmi | Signatech Alpine | Alpine/Nissan | 9.200s | 44 |
16 | LMP2 | V.Petrov, V.Shaytar, K.Ladygin | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/Nissan | 9.290s | 39 |
17 | LMP2 | R.Dalziel, P.Derani, C.Cumming | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/Nissan | 9.319s | 44 |
18 | LMP2 | T.Graves, A.Lynn, S.Nakano | Manor | ORECA/Nissan | 9.601s | 41 |
19 | LMP2 | N.Minassian, M.Mediani, M.Aleshin | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/Nissan | 9.932s | 37 |
20 | GTE Pro | S.Mucke, O.Pla | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Ford | 14.669s | 39 |
21 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, J.Calado | AF Corse | Ferrari | 14.861s | 40 |
22 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, S.Bird | AF Corse | Ferrari | 14.938s | 42 |
23 | GTE Pro | A.Priaulx, H.Tincknell | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Ford | 15.145s | 45 |
24 | GTE Pro | N.Thiim, M.Sorensen | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 15.473s | 46 |
25 | GTE Pro | R.Stanaway, D.Turner | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 15.474s | 46 |
26 | GTE Pro | R.Lietz, M.Christensen | Dempsey Racing - Proton | Porsche | 15.503s | 35 |
27 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 16.038s | 42 |
28 | GTE Am | Y.Yamagishi, P.Ragues, R.Taylor | Larbre Competition | Chevrolet | 16.327s | 43 |
29 | GTE Am | K.Al Qubaisi, D.H.Hansson, P.Long | Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing | Porsche | 16.340s | 39 |
30 | GTE Am | M.Wainwright, A.Carroll, B.Barker | Gulf Racing | Porsche | 17.050s | 37 |
31 | GTE Am | C.Ried, W.Henzler, J.Camathias | KCMG | Porsche | 17.212s | 45 |
32 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, R.Aguas | AF Corse | Ferrari | 17.340s | 42 |
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