The no4 Nielsen Racing Duqueine of Matt Bell and John Melsom was the fastest car in the opening Free Practice session for Round 4 of the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup in Aragon, Spain. The 60-minute session was interrupted by a red flag when the no70 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini went off the track into the barriers.
Matt Bell’s lap time of 1m54.023 around the 5.34km Motorland Aragon circuit was 0.209s ahead of the no66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier, with Daniel Keilwitz setting that car’s best time of 1m54.23.
The two COOL Racing Ligiers were third and fourth fastest, with David Droux posting the third best time of 1m54.313 in the no97 Ligier, just 0.081s behind Keilwitz and 0.070s ahead of his teammate Cedric Oltramare in the no87 Ligier-Nissan.
Championship leaders Julien Gerbi and Gillian Henrion in the no16 Team Virage Ligier finished the session in 9thoverall, 0.683s behind the Nielsen Duqueine, while their nearest championship rivals Colin Noble and Audunn Gudmundsson in the no77 Team Thor Ligier were 5th fastest, with Noble setting a 1m54.438 lap, just 0.001s ahead of Belen Garcia in the no25 360 Racing Ligier.
In the GT3 category the fastest car of the session was the no42 Stellar Motorsport Audi R8, with Sennan Fielding leading the way with a 1m57.514 lap, 0.326s ahead of his nearest rival, the no86 HCR With CaffeineSix Porsche 911 of Anders Fjordbach.
The no51 AF Corse Ferrari was third fastest with Kei Cozzolino posting a 1m58.389, 0.875 behind the Audi and 0.093s ahead of the no88 GMB Motorsport Honda NSX of Jan Magnussen.
Championship leaders Arnold Robin and Valentin Hasse Clot finished the session 11th out of eleven cars after only completing 8 laps.
The second Free Practice session is due to begin at 16h40 this afternoon.
CLICK HERE for the result from FP1
