Lucas di Grassi made sure Audi Sport Team Joest finished the first day of action at the Six hours of Silverstone on top, with the Brazilian laying down a time of 1:43.134 to move ahead of Marc Lieb’s FP1 time of 1:44.042 by nine tenths of a second.
Di Grassi, who is joining the World Championship winning pair of Loïc Duval and Tom Kristensen in the No.1 Audi, finished the session four tenths up on the sister No.2 Audi driven by André Lotterer, who set a lap time of 1:43.534.
In third was the first of the Toyota’s, with Japan’s Kazuki Nakajima laying down a lap of 1:44.097, almost a second slower than di Grassi and half a second slower than Lotterer. Next up on the sheets is the No.20 Porsche 919 Hybrid, with former F1 ace Mark Webber setting a time of 1:45.051, 1.9 seconds slower than di Grassi.
In LMP2 it was the No.26 G-Drive Morgan-Nissan on top, with Frenchman Olivier Pla setting a lap time of 1:50.401 to go three tenths ahead of Richard Bradley in the No.47 KCMG Oreca 03-Nissan, with Kirill Ladygin in third in the No.37 SMP Racing Oreca. In fourth and last in the class was the second SMP Oreca, the No.27, on a 1:51.684 with Nicolas Minassian at the wheel.
In the pro ranks of LMGTE it was No.92 Porsche on top with a 2:00.057 with Richard Lietz at the wheel, with the Austrian two tenths faster than the RAM Racing Ferrari 458 Italia in second place on a 2:00.268. In third was second of the Porsche Team Manthey cars, the No.91, on a 2:00.394, with the two AF Corse cars and the two Aston Martin’s rounding out the cars in fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh places.
In the Am division it was the No.88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR on top on a 2:00.570 with Klaus Bachler at the wheel of the car, with the No.61 AF Corse Ferrari three tenths back in P2. In third was the No.98 Aston Martin Vantage of Pedro Lamy who set a 2:01.793, eighth tenths down on the No.61 458 Italia.
Once again the session passed without any major incidents, although both the No.8 Toyota TS040 and the No.14 Porsche 919 Hybrid are under investigation for “improving under yellows,” after the No.90 8Star Motorsports Ferrari went off, getting beached in the gravel.
FP3 takes place at 0900.
