WEC: New season Prologue Test underway in Barcelona

After not making it out of the Team LNT garage this morning, the #5 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 – AER car successfully completed 39 laps this afternoon with Mathias Beche setting the team’s quickest lap time: 1:31.828.

López set the fastest time during the first test session of the FIA WEC Prologue at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the championship’s official pre-season test, with a time of 1:29.991 in the updated #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid.

The sister #8 Toyota LMP1 car was second quickest ahead of Rebellion Racing’s two Rebellion R13 – Gibson cars which were third and fourth. Team LNT was forced to sit out of the first half of the four-hour session but Stéphane Sarrazin was able to get behind the wheel of the G60-LT-P1 AER car to set a time of 1:34.670 in the latter half of the test. The #5 Ginetta car remained in the garage but was expected to get out on track later this afternoon.

AF Corse set the pace in LMGTE Pro with the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo as Alessandro Pier Guidi and Davide Rigon set the quickest times in the #51 and #71 cars. The brand-new Porsche 911 RSR-19s were third and fourth quickest.

Anglo-American team United Autosports topped the times out of the eight LMP2 entries, with Scotsman Paul di Resta setting a fastest time of 1:33.244s in the test’s closing stages. Just 0.308s behind was the #36 Signatech Alpine Elf entry with André Negrão at the wheel. Racing Team Nederland was third fastest, the Dutch-based team one of four LMP2 teams to test Goodyear’s new tyres after the American company announced they would be developing a new range for WEC Season 8.

LMGTE Am saw Matteo Cairoli set the fastest time of the morning in the Team Project 1 #57 car with a time of 1:45.009s, just 0.110s ahead of its sister #56 car. Dempsey-Proton Racing was third quickest in a similar car.

The Prologue’s second practice session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya saw all six LMP1 cars separated by just 1.717s, with Lopez fastest of all as reported above.

AF Corse and the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo once again proved to be the team to beat in the LMGTE Pro class, with Miguel Molina posting an overall time of 1:43.814 , just 0.089s quicker than the Porsche 911 RSR-19 with Michael Cristensen at the wheel. Alessandro Pier Guidi’s time of 1:44.040 set this morning remained the third fastest out of both sessions. The #97 Aston Martin Racing completed a total of 40 laps this afternoon with an overall best time of 1:45.231.

LMP2 saw United Autosports out in front with Paul di Resta in the Oreca once again topping the timesheets, 0.297s ahead of the #36 Signatech Alpine Elf – Gibson. The #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing car was third fastest this afternoon in LMP2, with a time of 1:34.168. WEC newcomers Cool Racing and High Class Racing were fourth and fifth fastest respectively.

Team Project 1 remained fastest out of the LMGTE Am crews, the #57 Porsche 911 RSR setting a benchmark time of 1:44.843 – 0.032s ahead of its sister #56 car. AF Corse was third fastest, closely followed by MR Racing.

Due to a collapsed kerb on the exit of Turn 5, the test was red flagged for the first hour. An extra 30 minutes of running time was added at the end of the session to make up for the time lost to repair the kerb.

Wednesday's Prologue will get underway at 10h00 local time.