Lotterer Defies Porsche to Top Spa Third Practice

Audi Sport Team Joest topped the third and final practice session for the FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps after André Lotterer recorded the fastest lap of the session, despite Porsche’s pace advantage.

The German driver’s 1:57.368s lap in dry conditions was just 0.01 seconds quicker than Nico Hülkenberg in the #19 Porsche. Hülkenberg was the first in a sextet of Porsche drivers who all submitted times within a second of Lotterer’s benchmark.

Nick Tandy posted the fourth quickest time of the day with a 1:57.861s, while Neel Jani, Brendon Hartley, Timo Bernhard and Marc Lieb followed closely.

Despite laying down an early marker Mike Conway (#2 Toyota) dropped to tenth as the Porsches stepped up the pace later in the session. The Briton’s fastest lap of 1:59.630s eclipsed his team-mate Stéphane Sarrazin by a tenth of a second, with Sébastien Buemi in the #1 car a further tenth adrift.

The #4 Team ByKolles CLM AER P1/01 did manage to get some track time in third practice, with Vitantonio Liuzzi and Simon Trummer at the wheel.

In LMP2, G-Drive Racing’s Sam Bird laid down the marker at the end of a busy session. The Briton’s 2:08.145s best was four tenths quicker than Matt Howson in the KCMG ORECA 05. JOTA Sport continued its European Le Mans Series form with Harry Tincknell submitting a competitive 2:08.965s, while Pipo Derani ended the session fourth fastest in the #28 G-Drive Ligier.

In LMGTE Pro the margins were once again close, but it was the #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Toni Vilander that prevailed with a 2:18.390s fastest lap. The Finn’s team-mate Gianmaria Bruni finished a tenth adrift, with Fernando Rees (#99 Aston Martin) and James Calado (#71 Ferrari) also within a whisker of the top spot.

Aston Martin Racing topped LMGTE Am thanks to a 2:19.485s lap from Pedro Lamy. The Portuguese driver was 1.6 seconds quicker than Paolo Ruberti in the #50 Larbre Corvette, while Klaus Bachler rounded out the top three in the #88 Abu Dhabi Proton Racing Porsche.

The 2015 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps will begin tomorrow at 13:35 GMT.

 

POS.	NO.	TEAM	TIME	CLASS
1	7	Audi Sport Team Joest	1:57.368s	LMP1
2	19	Porsche Team	1:57.379s	LMP1
3	18	Porsche Team	1:57.861s	LMP1
4	17	Porsche Team	1:57.899s	LMP1
5	8	Audi Sport Team Joest	1:58.228s	LMP1
6	2	Toyota Gazoo Racing	1:59.630s	LMP1
7	1	Toyota Gazoo Racing	1:59.850s	LMP1
8	9	Audi Sport Team Joest	2:02.232s	LMP1
9	26	G-Drive Racing	2:08.415s	LMP2
10	47	KCMG	2:08.854s	LMP2
11	38	JOTA Sport	2:08.965s	LMP2
12	28	G-Drive Racing	2:09.331s	LMP2
13	36	Signatech Alpine	2:09.816s	LMP2
14	4	Team ByKolles	2:09.962s	LMP1
15	43	Team SARD Morand	2:10.115s	LMP2
16	42	Strakka Racing	2:11.516s	LMP2
17	30	Extreme Speed Motorsports	2:13.307s	LMP2
18	35	OAK Racing	2:13.364s	LMP2
19	31	Extreme Speed Motorsports	2:14.631s	LMP2
20	51	AF Corse	2:18.390s	GTE Pro
21	99	Aston Martin Racing	2:18.511s	GTE Pro
22	71	AF Corse	2:18.610s	GTE Pro
23	97	Aston Martin Racing	2:18.616s	GTE Pro
24	95	Aston Martin Racing	2:19.131s	GTE Pro
25	91	Porsche Team Manthey	2:19.175s	GTE Pro
26	50	Larbre Competition	2:21.118s	GTE Am
27	88	Abu Dhabi Proton Racing	2:21.446s	GTE Am
28	72	SMP Racing	2:21.504s	GTE Am
29	83	AF Corse	2:21.509s	GTE Am
30	77	Dempsey Proton Racing	2:21.819s	GTE Am
31	55	AF Corse	2:24.191s	GTE Am
32	97	Aston Martin Racing	2:24.620s	GTE Am