Peugeot’s Nico Muller topped the timesheets in a shortened opening practice for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, the next round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, held at the Interlagos circuit.
The Swiss driver, in the #93 Peugeot 9X8, set a 1:26.341 to go quickest. 0.179 off was Earl Bamber in the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R, while Porsche’s Andre Lotterer was third in the #6 Porsche 963.
Fourth and fifth were the fastest Toyota and Ferrari cars, Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota ahead of Yifei Ye, onboard the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P.
The session was red flagged just over half way in due to a heavy crash from Arnold Robin, in the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3, who hit the turn 4 barriers hard. With those barriers needing extensive repairs, the decision was taken to red flag the session and then extend free practice 2 by 45 minutes to make up for the lost track time. Robin was assisted from the car and taken to the medical centre for checks.
Fastest in LMGT3 was local hero Nicolas Costa, in the #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3. The Brazilian set a 1:35.881, just 0.003 faster than his nearest challenger, Alex Riberas in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. Third quickest was the other Aston Martin, the #777 D’Station machine, with Marco Sorensen at the wheel.
FP2 will get underway 45 minutes early, at 2:30pm local time, and last 2 hours 15 minutes.
