The no77 Team Thor Ligier was the fastest of the 58 cars during the first 60-minutes Free Practice session of the Road to Le Mans.
Colin Noble put in two fast laps in the final 10-minutes of the session, the Scot posting a 3m50.005 with under 8 minutes left on the clock and then became the first driver to post a sub 3m50s time on the next lap with a 3m49.296.
The Icelandic team finished 0.259s ahead of their nearest rivals, the no7 Nielsen Racing Ligier of Tony Wells, the former champion posting a 2m49.555 at the chequered flag to leap up the standings.
The no97 COOL Racing Ligier or David Droux was third fastest, the Swiss driver briefly holding the top spot before Noble’s first flying lap and then pushed back another place by Wells.
Andy Meyrick went fourth fastest in the no20 United Autosports Ligier right at the end of the session, the British driver finishing just ahead of the no30 Frikadelli Racing Team Ligier of Felipe Fernandez-Lazer.
The no10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage was the fastest of the 20 GT3 competitors with Valentine Hasse-Clot setting a 3m58.499 lap. His teammate Arnold Robin finished the session in the pitlane after the French driver was given a 5-minute stop and go penalty for abusing track limits. However, the fastest lap was not bettered by the time the chequered flag was shown.
The no70 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan finished the session second fastest in GT3, with Gerhard Watzinger’s lap of 4m02.331 pushing the two Team WRT BMW M4s down to 3rd and 4thspot by just 0.027s and 0.042s respectively. Max Hesse took the chequered flag in the no31 BMW, while Valentino Rossi finished the session in the no46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3.
The second 60-minute Free Practice session will take place at 20h30 this evening.
CLICK HERE for the result from Free Practice 1.
