Ferrari AF Corse topped the first Free Practice session of the FIA World Endurance Championship season this afternoon in Qatar, with James Calado setting a 1m42.123s in the No. 51 499P.
It was a strong start to the race meeting for the Italian manufacturer, though there’s surely a lot more pace to come from the cars as the circuit rubbers in again. Last week’s Prologueat the track produced a number of sub-1m40s laps, and some truly impressive laps are expected to be achieved in Hyperpole tomorrow.
Adding to the fast start to Wednesday’s track action, the No. 50 sister car ended up third, less than a tenth off the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac which ended up achieving a 1m42.355s with Sebastien Bourdais.
The top five on the screens was completed by the No. 8 Toyota and No. 15 Team WRT BMW as the quickest 10 cars in the top category all set times within a second.
There was only one notable incident in Hypercar. Red flags came out after Alex Riberas in the No. 009 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie stopped at Turn 1 with a suspected battery issue after 14 laps. The two new Hypercars from the British brand ended up 17th and 18th in the times, 2.2 and 2.7 seconds off after more than 40 laps combined were completed.
In LMGT3, AKKODIS ASP’s No. 78 Lexus picked up where it left off in the Prologue, with Ben Barnicoat reeling off a late 1m55.801s to top the times.
The two TF Sport Corvettes claimed second and third with times that came within two-tenths of the Lexus. The Bend Team WRT BMW slotted in fourth with the No. 87 AKKODIS Lexus fifth.
Only 16 cars set times in the 90-minute run, as neither Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 left the pit lane.
The cars were forced to sit out the session after suffering compliance issues stemming from the fuel docking procedure. A software update from Mercedes-AMG is required ahead of FP2, according to a team spokesperson.
There was better news, though, from Racing Spirit of Leman and Proton Competition, as both teams were able to repair their damaged cars in time for FP1. The RSLM Vantage ended up sixth after 34 laps, while the No. 77 Mustang — following its ground-up rebuild due to fire damage — was the slowest car in the class but did complete 25 tours.
UP NEXT: Free Practice 2 will get underway at 4:50pm local time in Qatar.
