Ferrari once again set the pace in the afternoon session of Le Mans test day, with #51 Ferrari 499P’s Antonio Giovinazzi lapping Circuit de la Sarthe in 3:29.504.
Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche Penske 963 was second fastest, just 0.144 back from Giovinazzi. Kamui Kobayashi was in the leading Toyota, #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, which was repaired following Mike Conway’s crash at Tertre Rouge in the opening session. The Japanese driver was 0.323 adrift of Giovinazzi.
The session was peppered by incidents, including a 37-minute long safety car period to clear up after Laurents Hor and Rodrigo Sales came together at the Dunlop Chicane, in the #48 IDEC Sport Oreca 07-Gibson, and the #14 Nielsen Racing Oreca 07-Gibson respectively.
Fourth fastest in Hypercar was the #50 Ferrari of SAntonio Fuoco, just a few hundredths slower than Kobyashi.
And fifth in class was the Le Mans-only #75 Porsche of Felipe Nasr, four tenths off Giovinazzi’s pace-setting time.
In LMP2, JOTA’s Pietro Fittipaldi was quickest in the #28 JOTA Oreca 07-Gibson, with a 3:35.472. Second fastest was Ferdinand Habsburg in the #31 WRT Oreca 07-Gibson, well over seven tenths slower than Fittipaldi. Third fastest was the #35 Alpine Oreca 07-Gibson, with Andre Negrao at the wheel.
Finally, in GTE-Am, Thomas Neubauer topped the timesheets in the #66 JMW Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, setting a 3:56.088. Francesco Castellaci was second with a 3:56.184 in the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, while Kessel Racing made it a Ferrari 1-2-3 in class, with Daniel Serra just under a tenth slower than Castellaci, in the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.
