G-Drive Racing’s Nyck de Vries was quickest in the Tuesday morning session at the FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue as more teams encountered significant trouble at Spa-Francorchamps.
De Vries posted a 02:04:168 in the #26 Aurus 01-Gibson, as the LMP2 teams lapped quicker than the Hypercars for the third consecutive session.
The Dutchman was 0.116s clear of Filipe Albuquerque in the #22 United Autosports ORECA. His compatriot Antonio Felix da Costa completed the top three in JOTA’s #38 ORECA 07-Gibson, just over a tenth ahead of the fastest Hypercar in Toyota’s #7 GR010 Hybrid, which posted a 02:04:708.
The other Toyota was sixth overall, 0.090s behind the sister car, while Alpine was a further second behind in eleventh place overall.
More incidents
After Monday’s sessions were marred by multiple significant incidents throughout the day, Tuesday morning’s running brought more of the same.
In total, the red flag was brought out three times throughout the session, with the first stoppage caused when the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid came to a halt on track.
The second red flag was more serious, as the #29 Racing Team Nederland ORECA 07-Gibson of Job van Uitert and the #85 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Katherine Legge made contact and crashed into the barriers at Blanchimont. Both cars suffered extensive damage, but the drivers were unhurt.
The third and final caution was caused by Roberto Merhi coming to a halt in the #25 G-Drive Racing Aurus 01-Gibson.
Some of the cars that were involved in significant incidents on Monday made it back out on track. The #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR was rebuilt and back running following Satoshi Hoshino’s Raidillon crash.
Its sister car, the #33 Aston Martin Vantage AMR, also returned to the track after Ben Keating’s major crash at Raidillon. TF Sport shipped its European Le Mans Series car from Britain to Belgium overnight, arriving in the early hours of the morning and being made ready for scrutineering and track action on time.
The #28 JOTA ORECA 07-Gibson also returned to action for a handful of installation lap after a rebuild following a significant crash for Sean Gelael on Monday afternoon.
One car did not return to the track: the #46 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR-19, which was crashed by Anders Buchardt yesterday. The car suffered extensive damage, with participation for the rest of the weekend looking in doubt.
Porsche continue to shine in GTE
Porsche, meanwhile, continue to look strong in both GTE categories.
Kevin Estre once again led the way in the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19, topping the timesheets with a 02:12:916, well clear of the #91 Porsche sister car in second place.
Matteo Cairoli, meanwhile, once again showed his pace in the #56 Team Project Porsche 911 RSR-19 to go quickest in GTE Am. The Italian’s 02:14:736 was just over a tenth up on the #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche, while the returning #33 TF Sport Aston Martin was third in class.
