Two for two - Toyota and Aston Martin Fastest Manufacturers in FP2
Free practice two kicked off as Sebring descended into darkness. Top of the timesheets again was Toyota in LMP1, with Jackie Chan DC Racing fastest in LMP2, Aston Martin in GTE Pro and Gulf Racing in GTE Am.
Super Sebring's second free practice session came to a close under the cover of darkness, and it was the #7 Toyota of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez that returned to the top spot. The crew finished ahead of the sister car by just over half a second. Best of the rest seemed to have a bit of a shuffle around, with the Russian entrants SMP Racing finishing with both cars, #17 in front of #11, ahead of the pair of Rebellions, #3 finishing quicker than the #1. Dragonspeed again brought up the rear of the LMP1 pack.
In LMP2, the top three runners were all Orecas, led by the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing car of Stephane Richelmi, Gabriel Aubry and Ho-Pin Tung. A XX time saw the Chinese entry found themselves ahead of the #36 Alpine and the #28 TDS Racing, who both finished in the same positions as the earlier free practice session. Troubles struck both the #13 Dragonspeed and the quickest car from FP1, the #14 Racing Team Nederland as both vehicles suffered wheel issues, meaning the latter only completed eight laps in the entire session.
Meanwhile, in the GTE Pro field, #67 Ford GT and #97 Aston Martin continued where they left off, trading blows and exchanging fastest times through the session. In the end, the lime green Vantage in the hands of Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin came out on top thanks to a 1:57.792, a mere 0.033 seconds ahead of Harry Tincknell, Andy Priaulx and Jonathan Bomarito in the Ford. The sister Ford in the hands of Olivier Pla, Stefan Mucke and Billy Johnson finished third fastest, again only a fraction behind. Daniel Serra, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi breathed some life into their Ferrari, dragging the prancing horse up into fourth-fastest - the second Ferrari finished eighth in class. Fifth through seventh was the second Aston Martin ahead of the two Porsches, with the two BMWs and Corvette Racing's C7.R finishing off the order.
And in GTE Am, praise abound goes to the Team Project 1 crew. Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey and Egidio Perfetti ran quickest on several occasions during the session, in a brand new car - delivered only hours before scrutineering! Their claim on the top spot wasn't to last, though it was still a Porsche that claimed the quickest time - the #86 Gulf Racing machine of Michael Wainwright, Ben Barker and Thomas Preining. The familiar blue and orange 911 RSR finished ahead of the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari and the #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche.
Free Practice Three starts tomorrow at 16.15 local time.
Photo Credit: Toyota Motorsport GmbH
Originally posted on Overtake Motorsport, shared with the author’s permission.
