#7 Toyota On Top In FP2

The #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 HYBRID set the fastest time in second practice, as the FIA World Endurance Championship teams continue to get acclimatised to the resurfaced Silverstone circuit.

The bar was lowered significantly over the course of FP2, with the ultimate pace from Kamui Kobayashi – a 1:36.847, proving quicker than the 2018 pole time.

The second of the Toyotas, the #8, set a best time of 1:37.673 with Sebastien Buemi at the wheel, eight tenths back from the sister car.

While Rebellion were no longer ahead of Toyota, the fastest of the R13s, the #1, was still only a second back from the fastest time of the session, courtesy of a mid-session 1:37.876 from Gustavo Menezes.

The #3 Rebellion was a little further back with a 1:38.687 fastest lap putting the car over eight tenths back from its sister crew.

Both Ginetta G60-LT-P1s achieved solid mileage, and a best time of 1:39.600 for the #5 in the hands of Ben Hanley represents a second of pace found by Team LNT compared to the earlier session.

In the LMP2 ranks, the United Autosports crew completed a clean sweep of session-topping times today in both the ELMS and WEC sessions, with Paul Di Resta setting a 1:43.059 in the #22 Michelin-shod ORECA to set the pace in WEC FP2. There’s a lot of early promise shown by Richard Dean’s outfit with its acquired 07 Gibsons.

Second in LMP2 was the first of the Goodyear runners, the #33 High Class Racing ORECA. A best time of 1:43.080 saw Kenta Yamashita come close to the United Autosports time despite a delayed start to the session, as the team was held back from the opening minutes as punishment for testing here at Silverstone more recently than the regulations allow.

ORECA convert Racing Team Nederland was the third quickest LMP2 outfit thanks to a 1:43.234 from Giedo van der Garde.

In GTE Pro, the #51 AF Corse Ferrari was quickest of all, with a 1:55.501 from James Calado besting Porsche’s Richard Lietz by 0.164 seconds. Lietz’s time of 1:55.665 seems to further cement the #91 factory entry as the 911 RSR-19 with superior one-lap pace, as the #92 drivers have struggled to come within half a second of the sister car’s times.

Davide Rigon took third in the session in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari, while the #92 Porsche took fourth, and the Aston Martin entries failed to make the same leaps forward in lap time as the other Pro cars between sessions.

However, in Am, the Vantage AMR is proving to be a very effective weapon, with the #98 Aston Martin Racing entry topping the session courtesy of a 1:56.463 from Ross Gunn. Meanwhile, Charlie Eastwood registered the second fastest time of the session, a 1:56.559 – in the #90 TF Sport entry, just clear of Nicklas Nielsen in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari.

The third and final Free Practice session will take place at 09:00 local time, ahead of qualifying at 11:50.

Featured image courtesy of Toyota Gazoo Racing