Practice report

WEC Sao Paulo: Peugeot fastest in truncated opening session

Peugeot quickest as a crash for Lexus brings an early end to the session

Peugeot set the quickest time in the opening practice for the World Endurance Championship at Sao Paulo after a red flag brought an early halt to proceedings.

The 90-minute session was red-flagged at exactly the halfway point when Arnold Robin heavily crashed his #78 ASK Lexus RC F GT3 at Turn 4 on a damp but drying track. Although bronze-rated Robin was reported to be okay and taken to medical centre for evaluation, the impact substantially damaged the barriers at the exit of the left-hander, leading to a prolonged suspension.

With still 20 minutes left on the clock, the race control announced that the session would not be restarted - with the results declared from the times set immediately prior to the red flag. To make up for the lost time, FP2 will be extended by 45 minutes and will now run from 14:30 to 16:45 on Friday evening.

Just prior to the stoppage caused by the Lexus, Peugeot had gone quickest in the Hypercar class courtesy of Nico Muller in the #93 9X8.

Having fitted slick tyres on like the rest of the field as the track began to dry out after earlier showers, the Swiss driver first moved to the top of the charts with a time of 1m26.971s before cementing his position with a 1m26.341s flier.

Cadillac ended up second after 45 minutes of green flag running, with Earl Bamber - who had set the pace on wet tyres early on - lapping the circuit in 1m26.520s, 0.179s down on Muller’s benchmark.

Third place went to the #6 Porsche 963 of Andre Lotterer, who was the first to set competitive lap times on slicks. The German’s best effort of 1m26.657s was 0.226s off the pace, but comfortably clear of fourth-placed Sebastien Buemi in the best of the Toyotas, the #8 GR010 HYBRID.

AF Corse driver Yifei Ye led Ferrari’s three-car attack in fifth after posting a time of 1m26.824s, while BMW driver Rene Rast made it six different manufacturers inside the top six with a time of 1m26.871s.

No other driver was able to lap within a second of Muller, as the red flag was deployed not too long after the track had become dry enough for slick rubber.

Miguel Molina in the Le Mans 24 Hours-winning #50 Ferrari was 1.003s off the pace in seventh place, while Mike Conway - making his WEC return after missing the previous round due to a cycling accident - put the #7 Toyota up to eighth in the ranking.

Next up was Michael Christensen in the #5 Porsche, while Jean-Karl Vernay was a surprise 10th in the Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-Competizione.

The two Alpine A424 LMDh cars ended up 12th and 13th, while Jota ended up at the bottom of the Hypercar order with its two customer Porche 963s.

McLaren leads the LMGT3 category

In the LMGT3 class, Nicolas Costa topped the session in the #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 after setting a time of 1m35.881s just before the red flag.

That put him just 0.003s clear of Alex Riberas in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, while the sister Aston car entered under the D’station Racing banner finished third with a time of 1m36.104s set by Marco Sorensen.

The two Lamborghinis occupied fourth and fifth positions, with Matteo Cressoni just edging ahead in the #60 Iron Lynx Huracan GT3.

The #78 Lexus that brought out the red flag ended up 17th out of the 18 runners, with Robin having set the car's best time of 1m40.108s prior to his off at Turn 4. Robin's team-mate Kelvin van der Linde had previously put the car at the top of the order on wet tyres when the track was still damp.

Sao Paulo WEC - FP1 Results:

1 - 2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	M. Jensen N. Müller J. Vergne	Peugeot 9X8 2024	26	1'26.341		179.664
2	CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR	2	E. Bamber A. Lynn	Cadillac V-Series.R	21	+0.179 1'26.520	0.179	179.292
3	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	6	K. Estre A. Lotterer L. Vanthoor	Porsche 963	26	+0.226 1'26.567	0.047	179.195
4	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	22	+0.436 1'26.777	0.210	178.761
5	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica R. Shwartzman Y. Yifei	Ferrari 499P	23	+0.483 1'26.824	0.047	178.664
6	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	S. Van Der Linde R. Frijns R. Rast	BMW M Hybrid V8	24	+0.530 1'26.871	0.047	178.568
7	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	24	+1.003 1'27.344	0.473	177.601
8	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	M. Conway K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	24	+1.306 1'27.647	0.303	176.987
9	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	M. Campbell M. Christensen F. Makowiecki	Porsche 963	26	+1.817 1'28.158	0.511	175.961
10	Isotta Fraschini HYPERCAR	11	A. Serravalle C. Bennett J. Vernay	Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competizione LMH	12	+2.085 1'28.426	0.268	175.428
11	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	D. Vanthoor R. Marciello M. Wittmann	BMW M Hybrid V8	25	+2.684 1'29.025	0.599	174.247
12	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	P. Chatin F. Habsburg C. Milesi	Alpine A424	23	+3.465 1'29.806	0.781	172.732
13	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	N. Lapierre M. Schumacher M. Vaxiviere	Alpine A424	24	+4.728 1'31.069	1.263	170.336
14	Proton Competition HYPERCAR	99	N. Jani J. Andlauer	Porsche 963	19	+4.948 1'31.289	0.220	169.926
15	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	23	+5.157 1'31.498	0.209	169.538
16	Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR	63	M. Bortolotti E. Mortara D. Kvyat	Lamborghini SC63	22	+5.681 1'32.022	0.524	168.572
17	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	P. di Resta L. Duval S. Vandoorne	Peugeot 9X8 2024	24	+6.130 1'32.471	0.449	167.754
18	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	38	J. Button P. Hanson O. Rasmussen	Porsche 963	7	+6.505 1'32.846	0.375	167.076
19	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	12	W. Stevens C. Ilott N. Nato	Porsche 963	15	+7.936 1'34.277	1.431	164.540
20	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham N. Costa G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	13	+9.540 1'35.881	1.604	161.788
21	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James D. Mancinelli A. Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	19	+9.543 1'35.884	0.003	161.782
22	D'Station Racing LMGT3	777	C. Mateu E. Bastard M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	21	+9.763 1'36.104	0.220	161.412
23	IRON LYNX LMGT3	60	C. Schiavoni M. Cressoni F. Perera	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	19	+9.819 1'36.160	0.056	161.318
24	IRON DAMES LMGT3	85	S. Bovy R. Frey M. Gatting	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	19	+9.857 1'36.198	0.038	161.254
25	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	55	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	23	+10.295 1'36.636	0.438	160.524
26	TEAM WRT LMGT3	31	D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3	23	+10.305 1'36.646	0.010	160.507
27	TEAM WRT LMGT3	46	A. Al Harthy V. Rossi M. Martin	BMW M4 GT3	23	+10.316 1'36.657	0.011	160.489
28	United Autosports LMGT3	95	J. Caygill N. Pino M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	21	+10.360 1'36.701	0.044	160.416
29	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	T. Kimura E. Masson J. Lopez	Lexus RC F GT3	17	+10.490 1'36.831	0.130	160.200
30	TF Sport LMGT3	82	H. Koizumi S. Baud D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	20	+10.689 1'37.030	0.199	159.872
31	Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3	92	A. Malykhin J. Sturm K. Bachler	Porsche 911 GT3 R	23	+10.995 1'37.336	0.306	159.369
32	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	22	+11.082 1'37.423	0.087	159.227
33	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	G. Roda M. Pedersen D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	15	+11.738 1'38.079	0.656	158.162
34	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Van Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	20	+12.099 1'38.440	0.361	157.582
35	Manthey EMA LMGT3	91	Y. Shahin M. Schuring R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	23	+13.223 1'39.564	1.124	155.803
36	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	78	A. Robin C. Schmid K. van der Linde	Lexus RC F GT3	16	+13.767 1'40.108	0.544	154.956
37	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	R. Hardwick Z. Robichon B. Barker	Ford Mustang GT3	17	+20.027 1'46.368	6.260	145.837
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