Shanghai WEC: Rebellion leads Ginetta pair in first practice

Gustavo Menezes posted a 1m48.761s aboard the solo Rebellion-Gibson R-13 to leapfrog the two Team LNT Ginettas. 

That put the American four tenths up on Ben Hanley, who set a 1m49.183s in the #5 Ginetta-AER G60-LT-P1 after missing the first half of the 90-minute session with fuel pressure issues.

Hanley was just five hundredths up on the second of the works Ginettas in which Charlie Robertson recorded a 1m49.234s. 

The second of the Ginettas is running nearly 30kg lighter than its sister car and the Rebellion under the system of success handicaps introduced into the LMP1 class of the WEC for this season. 

The two Toyotas, which are both penalised to the tune of 2.74s for the Shanghai weekend under the handicapping system, brought up the rear of the P1 field. 

Kamui Kobayashi set a 1m50.085s in the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid to end up fourth in the times, while Sebastien Buemi's 1m50.544s put him sixth behind Cool Racing LMP2 driver Nicolas Lapierre. 

The Toyotas' times compare with the 1m45.164s best by one of the TS050s in the only dry practice session at Shanghai last year. 

In addition to the success handicaps, the Toyotas are running 28kg heavier than at Shanghai in 2018. 

Lapierre's 1m50.338s P2 mark in the Cool Racing Oreca-Gibson 07 put him nearly six tenths up on Giedo van der Garde's 1m50.908s in the TDS-run Racing Team Nederland Oreca. 

Filipe Albuquerque took third in class aboard the United Autosports Oreca.

Porsche led the way in GTE Pro, Richard Lietz setting a 2m01.389s to just shade the best of the Aston Martin Vantage GTEs.

Nicki Thiim ended up on a 2m01.464s in the #95 Aston, which put him two tenths up on the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE of James Calado. 

The fourth fastest GTE car was the Am class Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR with Matteo Cairoli at the wheel. 

The second of the factory AF Ferraris to be driven by Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina did not got out on track courtesy of a fuel leak. 

Qualifying and the full 4 Hours of Shanghai will be shown live on Motorsport.tv. Check times here. 

FP1 Results:

Cla	#	Drivers	Car	Class	Time	Gap
1	1	Bruno Senna Gustavo Menezes Norman Nato	Rebellion R13	LMP1	1'48.761
2	5	Jordan King Ben Hanley Egor Orudzhev	Ginetta G60-LT-P1	LMP1	1'49.183	0.422
3	6	Charles Robertson Michael Simpson Guy Smith	Ginetta G60-LT-P1	LMP1	1'49.234	0.473
4	7	Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi Jose Maria Lopez	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	LMP1	1'50.085	1.324
5	42	Nicolas Lapierre Antonin Borga Alexandre Coigny	Oreca 07	LMP2	1'50.338	1.577
6	8	Sébastien Buemi Kazuki Nakajima Brendon Hartley	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	LMP1	1'50.544	1.783
7	29	Frits van Eerd Giedo van der Garde Nyck de Vries	Oreca 07	LMP2	1'50.908	2.147
8	22	Philip Hanson Filipe Albuquerque Paul di Resta	Oreca 07	LMP2	1'50.923	2.162
9	37	Ho-Pin Tung Gabriel Aubry Will Stevens	Oreca 07	LMP2	1'51.137	2.376
10	38	Roberto Gonzalez Antonio Felix da Costa Anthony Davidson	Oreca 07	LMP2	1'51.554	2.793
11	33	Mark Patterson Kenta Yamashita Anders Fjordbach	Oreca 07	LMP2	1'52.125	3.364
12	36	Thomas Laurent Andre Negrao Pierre Ragues	Alpine A470	LMP2	1'52.197	3.436
13	47	Roberto Lacorte Andrea Belicchi Giorgio Sernagiotto	Dallara P217	LMP2	1'53.304	4.543
14	91	Gianmaria Bruni Richard Lietz	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	LMGTE PRO	2'01.389	12.628
15	95	Marco Sorensen Nicki Thiim	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE PRO	2'01.464	12.703
16	51	James Calado Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE PRO	2'01.603	12.842
17	56	Egidio Perfetti David Heinemeier Hansson Matteo Cairoli	Porsche 911 RSR	LMGTE AM	2'01.814	13.053
18	98	Paul Dalla Lana Darren Turner Ross Gunn	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	2'01.909	13.148
19	90	Salih Yoluc Charles Eastwood Jonathan Adam	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	2'01.958	13.197
20	70	Motoaki Ishikawa Olivier Beretta Kei Cozzolino	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	2'02.013	13.252
21	92	Michael Christensen Kevin Estre	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	LMGTE PRO	2'02.077	13.316
22	97	Alex Lynn Maxime Martin	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE PRO	2'02.341	13.580
23	86	Michael Wainwright Andrew Watson Benjamin Barker	Porsche 911 RSR	LMGTE AM	2'02.591	13.830
24	77	Christian Ried Riccardo Pera Matt Campbell	Porsche 911 RSR	LMGTE AM	2'02.625	13.864
25	88	Angelo Negro Will Bamber Thomas Preining	Porsche 911 RSR	LMGTE AM	2'02.882	14.121
26	83	François Perrodo Emmanuel Collard Nicklas Nielsen	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	2'02.967	14.206
27	54	Thomas Flohr Francesco Castellacci Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	2'03.013	14.252
28	78	Philippe Prette Louis Prette Vincent Abril	Porsche 911 RSR	LMGTE AM	2'03.174	14.413
29	57	Ben Keating Larry ten Jeroen Bleekemolen	Porsche 911 RSR	LMGTE AM	2'03.966	15.205
30	62	Bonamy Grimes Johnny Mowlem Charles Hollings	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	2'04.189	15.428
31	71	Davide Rigon Miguel Molina	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE PRO
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