Sao Paulo FP1: Peugeot tops the times in shortened session; No. 59 United Autosports McLaren heads LMGT3
Photo: WEC
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Sao Paulo FP1: Peugeot tops the times in shortened session; No. 59 United Autosports McLaren heads LMGT3

Below are the main headlines after the first free practice session at the Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, round five of FIA WEC, which was cut short due to a red flag.

HYPERCAR

  • No.93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 tops the times at a damp FP1 session at Interlagos as Nico Mueller sets best time of 1m26.341s in session that is curtailed by 40mins due to a red flag for an accident suffered by the No.78 Akkodis ASP Lexus LMGT3 car
  • That time eclipses an early session best lap from Earl Bamber in the No.2 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar he shares with Alex Lynn
  • The fastest Porsche 963 Hybrid is third in the hands of 2014 6 Hours of Sao Paulo winner and current points table topping driver Andre Lotterer
  • Toyota place fourth with its No.8 GR010 Hybrid Hypercar as Sebastien Buemi sets a best of 1m26.777s
  • No.83 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman and Yifei Ye ends session in fifth place just ahead of the No.20 BMW M Team WRT entry making it six different manufacturers in the top six places
  • Rounding out the top 10 in FP1 is the No.50 Le Mans winning Ferrari 499P, the No.7 Toyota, No.5 Porsche Penske 963 and Isotta Fraschini Hypercar 

LMGT3

  • No.59 United Autosports McLaren sets fastest time in FP1 as home town hero Nicolas Costa peaks with a 1m35.881s best
  • That time is just a mere 0.003s faster than Alex Riberas in the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin
  • Fellow Aston Martin team D’Station Racing places third in the hands of Marco Sorensen in car he shares with Clement Marin and Erwan Bastard
  • No.60Iron Lynx Lamborghini ends session in fourth position ahead of the similar Iron Dames machine and the No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari completes the top six
  • Arnold Robin in the No.78 Akkodis ASP Lexus LMGT3 crashes heavily at Turn 4 and brings out the red flag to end the session
  • Robin is extricated from car for precautionary checks and is being evaluated at the medical centre

Click HERE for session results