Yahoo Autos Fuoco puts Ferrari on top in third practice session at Le Mans
Ferrari AF Corse’s No. 50 499P ran fastest in a sun-soaked Free Practice 3 at the Le Mans 24 Hours ahead of the Hyperpole shootout. Antonio Fuoco set a flying lap of 3m26.579s within the final 15 minutes to lead the way.
The sister No. 51 spent half the session undergoing transmission repairs, but once that was done, it took to the track and ran trouble-free to the checkered flag – and Alessandro Pier Guidi went second-fastest with a 3m27.013s.Toyota Gazoo Racing dove right in from the start of Free Practice 3, logging laps and setting early benchmark times. The No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid was third-fastest courtesy of a 3m27.580s set by Kamui Kobayashi, and the No. 8 Toyota was fourth, just 0.2s in arrears. Both cars completed upwards of 36 laps.
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Three cars completed 40 laps, including the No. 8 Toyota, and two Porsche Penske Motorsports 963s, the No. 5 and No. 75. Customer squad Hertz Team JOTA also flashed some pace and made up for the time lost in Qualifying Practice yesterday, going fifth-fastest, while the Penske factory cars were sixth, eighth, and ninth.
Cadillac Racing took extra care to make all was good with its two Cadillac V-Series.Rs, the blue No. 2 and gold No. 3, ahead of Hyperpole this evening. The No. 2 had to end its session early with a fuel cell problem which the team hopes will be resolved before the two-hour interim is finished. In the meantime, Action Express Racing’s No. 311 went seventh-fastest. Prior to the session, RACER understands that all three Cadillacs underwent a planned engine change.
But there was also a worrisome sight in the last half-hour for Peugeot. The No. 94 9X8 limped back into pit lane with smoke coming from the back; the smoke too thick to be a mere body rub.
All 24 LMP2 cars were back in action this afternoon after a change of chassis put Tower Motorsports back in the game with a rebuilt No. 13 Oreca 07-Gibson.
Only the No. 28 JOTA Oreca went for a push lap. Incredibly, Pietro Fittipaldi’s 3m34.071s was the fastest lap of the weekend through four sessions. With his pace so far this week, he looks to be a solid bet to put the “Mighty ’28” on pole.
Most LMP2 entrants didn’t go for a time, but Pietro Fittipaldi wasn’t shy about leaning on JOTA’s No.28 ORECA. Motorsport Images
LMP2 action saw a number of runners and riders finding the limit and stumbling somewhat over it. Ferdinand Habsburg had his dramas early when he spun off and hit the barrier at Indianapolis Corner. Good news, however, is that the No. 31 Team WRT Oreca was able to get back on track in the last 30 minutes.
Super Bronze, Salih Yoluc, did clip too much of the grass on the transition from the Forest Esses to Tertre Rouge in his No. 923 Racing Team Turkey Oreca but came away with only minor damage.
It was also an eventful session for Anglo-Venezuelan driver Manuel Maldonado. He went off at Arnage just over an hour into FP3, then with eight minutes left, the sight of the No. 65 Panis Racing Oreca hitting the gravel at the second Mulsanne Chicane brought out a full course yellow and effectively ended the session.
With the exception of the D’Station Racing Aston Martin (that is now fully built up ahead of FP4), all GTE-Am teams found track time, mostly circulating a couple of seconds shy of qualifying times as race performance came into focus.
The early pace-setter was Iron Lynx’s Matteo Cressoni, the No. 60 Porsche the best of seven 3m54s laps at the top of the GTE-Am timing screen.
With no Porsches featuring in Hyperpole, this was all about race setup, fuel loads and tire performance. Ben Barker was the first into the 3m53s range for GR Racing before Francesco Castellacci pushed back for AF Corse and Ferrari, a 3m53.681s would remain the session’s best. The No. 54 Ferrari will be among the GTE-Am Hyperpole contenders.
Northwest AMR’s Ian James exited the Ford Chicane awkwardly, a rubbing tire slowing the car to a crawl along the pit straight. The No. 98 Aston Martin driver sensibly brought the car to rest at pit out. Intervention to recover and return to its garage saw the car sit out the rest of the session while a broken wishbone was replaced.
The fan-favorite Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 entry spent most of the session in its garage taking on the fresh engine that should see it through the race. With 20 minutes of the session to go Jenson Button’s out lap was spoiled by a puncture, a 3m52.752s his restorative best before returning to the garage.
