An early start for the teams and drivers taking part in the Road to Le Mans saw the cars take to the track at 08h30 for the first of two free practice sessions today. This is the first opportunity to get to know the 13.6km La Sarthe circuit for some of the 68 drivers.
The session concluded with a red flag one minute before the chequered flag was due to be shown, but by that point the fastest laps had already been posted.The red flag was caused by a car spinning off into the gravel at post 33, forcing the Race Director to end the session early.The car was recovered from the gravel trap by the marshals and it went back to the paddock under its own power.
The no14 Eurointernational Ligier of Niko Kari was the fastest car in the session with the Finn setting a 3m50.145 lap, just eight tenths off the MLMC LMP3 lap record.The no15 RLR MSport Ligier of Malthe Jakobsen was second fastest with a 3m50.527, just under four tenths behind Kari’s Ligier and 1.7 seconds ahead of the third placed car, the no23 United Autosports Ligier of Wayne Boyd.
The fastest Duqueine M30-D08 was the no7 Nielsen Racing M30 of Colin Noble with a 3m52.454.Championship leaders Laurents Hörr and Jean Glorieux were 7th fastest in the no3 DKR Engineering Duqueine with a 3m53.199.
In GT3 the fastest time was set by the championship leaders, the no8 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GT3 of Giacomo Piccini and Rino Mastronardi.Mastronardi posted a 3m58.172 lap, two seconds ahead of the second placed car, the no63 FFF Racing Team by ACM Lamborghini, with Andrea Caldarelli setting the time. Round 3 winners Nicolas Leutwiler and Julien Andlauer in the no2 Pzoberer Zürichsee by TFT Porsche 911 third quickest a further 1.1 seconds behind the Lamborghini.
The second Free Practice session for the Road to Le Mans will take place later today at 18h30.
CLICK HERE for the result from Free Practice 1
