Gustavo Menezes has set the fastest time in opening practice for the Lone Star Le Mans round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, setting a fastest time of 01:49.957 in the #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson.
The Californian was 0.175s quicker than the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid at the hands of Sebastien Buemi. The second Toyota was considerably off the pace. The championship leading #7 car, at the hands of Mike Conway, was 2,5s behind Menezes in eighth overall.
Third overall, leading the LMP2 category, was the #22 United Autosports ORECA 07-Gibson of Filipe Albuquerque. The Portuguese driver’s 01:50:488 was just half a second off Menezes’ quickest time.
Second place in LMP2 went to the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA of Will Stevens, while reigning LMP2 champion Andre Negrao came in fourth in the #36 Signatech Alpine A470-Gibson.
The only full course caution of the session was also caused by an LMP2 runner as Racing Team Nederland’s Giedo van der Garde lost a wheel while driving the #29 ORECA 07-Gibson.
Aston Martin led the way in GTE Pro as Maxime Martin topped the sheets in the #97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR ahead of the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of James Calado, which had to concede the top spot in the final stages of the session. Gianmaria Bruni came third in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19.
Corvette’s WEC debut for the C8.R got off to a rocky start as it struggled for pace, 2.5s off the pace.
Dempsey-Proton Competition led one-two in GTE Am, with the #77 Porsche 911 RSR of Matt Campbell ahead of the #88 of Thomas Preining, while Gulf Racing and Team Project 1 made it an-all Porsche top four.
