WEC Spa: Rebellion and ByKolles lead Toyota in FP1, Porsche tops GTE
The privateer Rebellion and ByKolles teams outpaced Toyota in opening free practice for Saturday's World Endurance Championship round at Spa


Norman Nato topped the times with a 2m02.469s set early in the 90-minute session aboard the solo Rebellion-Gibson R-13 he shares with Bruno Senna and Gustavo Menezes.
That gave him a margin of just over a second ahead of the ByKolles team's ENSO CLM-Gibson P1/01 in which Oliver Webb posted a 2m03.515s.
The best of the Toyota TS050 HYBRIDs was the #7 entry which is running the greater penalty under the system of success handicaps introduced in LMP1 for the 2019/20 WEC.
Mike Conway set a 2m03.632s to end up a couple of tenths up on Kazuki Nakajima's 2m03.824s in the sister #8 car.
The class-leading Toyota's 1.1s deficit to the Rebellion is significantly less than the near two-second differential in the success handicaps they are carrying for the sixth round of the WEC.
The #7 and #8 Toyotas are penalised by 3.52s and 3.08s respectively, while the Rebellion is running a 1.58s handicap.
ByKolles, which has a revised version of its Le Mans bodywork in Belgium, is forced to run the same penalty as the Rebellion because it is making its seasonal debut in the WEC.
Toyota is debuting the Le Mans-spec version of the new high-nose aerodynamics introduced on the TS050 this year, whereas the Rebellion is in high-downforce trim.

The Racing Team Nederland Dallara-Gibson P217 was fastest in LMP2 with Giedo van der Garde at the wheel. The Dutchman posted 2m03.888s to eclipse Anthony Davidson's 2m03.935s aboard the Jota Sport ORECA.
Third fastest in class was the United Autosports ORECA in which championship leader Phil Hanson set a 2m04.119s.
The two factory Porsche 911 RSRs blocked out the top two positions in GTE Pro for the majority of the session, Michael Christensen leading the way on 2m16.057s.
Maxime Martin put in a 2m16.308s right at the end of the 90 minutes in his Aston Martin Vantage GTE to eclipse the 2m16.349s set early on by Gianmaria Bruni in the second of the Porsches.
Alessandro Pier Guidi was the best-placed Ferrari driver in fourth with a 2m16.779s.
Fellow factory driver Nicklas Nielsen ended up fastest in GTE AM with the AF Corse Ferrari squad.
The Dane's 2m17.853s put him a couple of tenths up on Augusto Farfus in the factory-run Aston Martin GTE Am entry.
Jackie Chan DC Racing driver Gabriel Aubry did not take part in the session after testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.
The results of a second test will determine whether he can race the Jota-run ORECA P2 car.
The Algarve Pro ORECA remained in its garage throughout the session.
The Anglo-Portuguese team has been forced to self-isolate because Aubry drove one of its cars in last weekend's European Le Mans Series round at Spa.
It remains unclear whether it will be able to run its solo ORECA P2 car on Friday.
Results
Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LMP1 | B.Senna, G.Menezes, N.Nato | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Gibson | 2m02.469s |
2 | LMP1 | T.Dillmann, B.Spengler, O.Webb | ByKOLLES Racing Team | ENSO CLM/Gibson | 1.046s |
3 | LMP1 | M.Conway, K.Kobayashi, J.M.Lopez | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota | 1.163s |
4 | LMP1 | S.Buemi, K.Nakajima, B.Hartley | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota | 1.355s |
5 | LMP2 | F.van Eerd, G.van der Garde, J.van Uitert | Racing Team Nederland | ORECA/Gibson | 1.419s |
6 | LMP2 | R.Gonzalez, A.F.da Costa, A.Davidson | JOTA | ORECA/Gibson | 1.466s |
7 | LMP2 | P.Hanson, F.Albuquerque, P.Di Resta | United Autosports | ORECA/Gibson | 1.650s |
8 | LMP2 | T.Laurent, A.Negrao, P.Ragues | Signatech Alpine Elf | Alpine/Gibson | 1.712s |
9 | LMP2 | N.Lapierre, A.Borga, A.Coigny | COOL Racing | ORECA/Gibson | 1.842s |
10 | LMP2 | H-Pin Tung, R.Cullen, W.Stevens | Jackie Chan DC Racing | ORECA/Gibson | 2.063s |
11 | LMP2 | M.Patterson, K.Yamashita, A.Fjordbach | High Class Racing | ORECA/Gibson | 3.578s |
12 | LMP2 | N.Yamanaka, N.Foster, R.Merhi | Eurasia Motorsport | Ligier/Gibson | 4.127s |
13 | LMP2 | R.Lacorte, A.Belicchi, G.Sernagiotto | Cetilar Racing | Dallara/Gibson | 4.742s |
14 | GTE Pro | M.Christensen, K.Estre | Porsche GT Team | Porsche | 13.588s |
15 | GTE Pro | A.Lynn, M.Martin | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 13.839s |
16 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, R.Lietz | Porsche GT Team | Porsche | 13.880s |
17 | GTE Pro | J.Calado, A.P.Guidi | AF Corse | Ferrari | 14.310s |
18 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, M.Molina | AF Corse | Ferrari | 14.653s |
19 | GTE Pro | M.Sorensen, N.Thiim | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 14.719s |
20 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, N.Nielsen | AF Corse | Ferrari | 15.384s |
21 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, A.Farfus, R.Gunn | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 15.551s |
22 | GTE Am | E.Perfetti, L.Horr, M.Cairoli | Team Project 1 | Porsche | 15.713s |
23 | GTE Am | C.Ried, R.Pera, M.Campbell | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Porsche | 15.778s |
24 | GTE Am | M.Wainwright, A.Watson, B.Barker | Gulf Racing | Porsche | 16.053s |
25 | GTE Am | T.Flohr, F.Castellacci, G.Fisichella | AF Corse | Ferrari | 16.064s |
26 | GTE Am | S.Yoluc, C.Eastwood, J.Adam | TF Sport | Aston Martin | 16.106s |
27 | GTE Am | B.Keating, F.Fraga, J.Bleekemolen | Team Project 1 | Porsche | 16.929s |
28 | GTE Am | B.Grimes, J.Mowlem, C.Hollings | Red River Sport | Ferrari | 17.242s |
29 | GTE Am | G.Giraudi, R.Sanchez, L.Legeret | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Porsche | 17.392s |
30 | LMP2 | J.Falb, S.Trummer, J.Lancaster | Algarve Pro Racing | ORECA/Gibson | - |

WEC team members self-isolating after driver's inconclusive COVID-19 test
LMP2 race winner Aubry out of Spa WEC round after positive COVID-19 test

How Formula E's double-duty drivers influenced their Le Mans teams' fortunes
Eight Formula E drivers made the 7,000-mile sprint from the streets of Jakarta to the fabled Circuit de la Sarthe and every one had a story to share at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. Despite a range of triumphs and disappointments, each driver doubling up on the day job played a key role in their teams' fortunes
How an Italian junior formula giant is readying for its Le Mans future
Prema remains a colossus in single-seaters, but the serial Formula 2 and Formula 3 title-winning squad has joined forces with top GT squad Iron Lynx for an attack on sportscars in the World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series. Ahead of its debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours, its sights are firmly fixed on LMP2 glory – and a future in Hypercars next year...
The British rookies targeting a good first impression at Le Mans
Three young Britons will make their first starts in the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend in the highly-competitive 23-car GTE Am field. But how did they get here? Autosport hears their stories.
The wingless wonder Peugeot hopes will restore it to Le Mans glory
Peugeot went radical with the initial plan for its Le Mans Hypercar project, and then stuck to its guns. Here’s how things are shaping up a few weeks before the debut of the 9X8 in next month's Monza World Endurance Championship round
How Toyota’s sole survivor turned the tables at Spa
After a chastening opening to the season at Sebring that ended in an enormous accident, Toyota's #7 crew got their World Endurance Championship underway with victory at a treacherously slippery Spa to make up for its sister car's Sebring defeat to Alpine, as Glickenhaus's promising qualifying turned to disaster in the race
The Chinese sportscar protege targeting a path to the top with Porsche
Yifei Ye came within one lap of winning the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hours debut last year, and his eye-catching 2021 has gained Porsche’s interest. With the German manufacturer preparing for a return to the top tier, the Chinese youngster is on the path to join it
How WEC got off to a stormy start in 2022 as rulemakers dampen Toyota's dominance
Toyota’s stranglehold on the World Endurance Championship ended at the 2022 opener at Sebring, but all accusing eyes were on the Balance of Performance system as the key to the shake-up. Here's how it unfolded, to see Alpine celebrating under a stormy sky having blown away the defending champions
Why Penske remains ambitious for its WEC learning year
Team Penske is gearing up for its role in running Porsche’s LMDh programme from 2023 by entering this year's World Endurance Championship with an LMP2 car. Although the team is considering 2022 as a season to learn, it is no less serious about winning than ever - which should make the already fiercely competitive class even more so