The only nighttime session, Free Practice 3 was particularly important for competitors. Held in ideal conditions and only disrupted by red flags, it allowed Rebellion Racing to show Toyota it’s in it to win it.
At 21:25, the four-hour nighttime free practice session had its first interruption in the wake of Bruno Spengler’s incident at the wheel of ByKOLLES Racing’s #4 Enso CLM P1/01-Gibson, then a second disruption at 23:42 when Red River Sport’s #62 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by Bonamy Grimes left the track. While the incident for the German LMP1 caused a 20-minute halt, the second for the Italian car ended the session 15 minutes early. Trailing during qualifying, Rebellion Racing’s #3 Rebellion R13-Gibson shared by Romain Dumas/Nathanaël Berthon/Louis Delétraz quickly reached the top of the hierarchy with a time of 3:19.158 ahead of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/José María López. For both teams, prepping for the race was at the heart of their efforts as the final session on Friday morning will be used to prepare for the Hyperpole. Behind them followed their sister cars: the #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson shared by Bruno Senna/Norman Nato/Gustavo Menezes and the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi/Kazuki Nakajima/Brendon Hartley.
In the LMP2 class, Duqueine Team’s #30 ORECA 07-Gibson shared by Jonathan Hirschi/Konstantin Tereschenko/Tristan Gommendy clocked the fastest time in the first hour ahead of United Autosports’ #32 and #22 ORECA 07-Gibsons of William Owen/Alex Brundle/Job van Uitert and Phil Hanson/Filipe Albuquerque/Paul di Resta, respectively, separated by G-Drive Racing’s #26 Aurus 01-Gibson shared by Roman Rusinov/Jean-Eric Vergne/Mikkel Jensen. The top 5 was rounded out by Racing Team Nederland’s #29 ORECA 07-Gibson of Frits van Eerd/Giedo van der Garde/Nyck de Vries. After significant accidents during Free Practice 3, IDEC SPORT Racing’s #17 and #28 ORECA 07-Gibsons were unable to take the track. There will be considerable set-up work to do tomorrow morning for the driver line-ups involved. As for Richard Mille Racing’s #50 ORECA 07-Gibson shared by Tatiana Calderon/Sophia Flörsch/Beitske Visser, learning night racing ended in 20th position in the class.
In LMGTE Pro, the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Michael Christensen/Kevin Estre/Laurens Vanthoor took the lead ahead of Aston Martin Racing’s #97 and #95 of Maxime Martin/Alex Lynn/Harry Tincknell and Nicki Thiim/Marco Sørensen/Richard Westbrook, respectively. AF Corse’s first #51 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO shared by Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Daniel Serra finished in fourth position ahead of the second #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Gianmaria Bruni/Richard Lietz/Frédéric Makowiecki. At the wheel of Risi Competizione’s #82 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO shared by French driver line-up Olivier Pla/Sébastien Bourdais/Jules Gounon took sixth place.
In the LMGTE Am class, MR Racing’s’ Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of Takeshi Kimura/Vincent Abril/Kei Cozzolino clocked the quickest time ahead of Aston Martin Racing’s #98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR shared by Paul Dalla Lana/Ross Gunn/Agusto Farfus and Iron Lynx’s Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of Claudio Schiavino/Sergio Pianezzola/Paolo Ruberti.
The fourth and final free practice will begin tomorrow at 10:00 before the Hyperpole for the top six cars driven by the six fastest drivers in each class. Don’t miss it!
LMP1
1. #3 Rebellion R13-Gibson of Rebellion Racing – Romain Dumas/Nathanaël Berton/Louis Delétraz (3:19.158)
2. #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing – Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/José María López (3:19.638)
3. #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson of Rebellion Racing – Bruno Senna/Norman Nato/Gustavo Menezes (3:19.775)
LMP2
1. #30 ORECA 07-Gibson of Duqueine Team – Jonathan Hirschi/Konsantin Tereschenko/Tristan Gommendy: 3:28.013 (5th overall)
2. #32 ORECA 07-Gibson of United Autosports – William Owen/Alex Brundle/Job van Uitert: 3:28.924 (6th overall)
3. #26 ORECA 07-Gibson of G-Drive Racing – Roman Rusinov/Jean-Eric Vergne/Mikkel Jense: 3:29.082 (7th overall)
LMGTE Pro
1. #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Porsche GT Team – Michael Kristensen/Kevin Estre/Laurens Vanthoor: 3:52.177 (28th overall)
2. #97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Aston Martin Racing – Maxime Martin/Alex Lynn/Harry Tincknell: 3:52.442 (29th overall)
3. #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Aston Martin Racing – Nicki Thiim/Marco Sørensen/Richard Westbrook: 3:52.362 (30th overall)
LMGTE Am
1. #70 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of MR Racing – Takeshi Kimura/Vincent Abril/Kei Cozzolino: 3:54.490 (36th overall)
2. #98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Aston Martin Racing – Paul Dalla Lana/Ross Gunn/Augusto Farfus: 3:55.092 (37th overall)
3. #60 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of Iron Lynx – Claudio Schiavoni/Sergio Pianezzola/Paolo Ruberti: 3:55.119 (38th overall)