The second 60-minute Free Practice session for the Aragon Round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup saw championship leaders Team Virage post the fastest time with Gillian Henrion setting a 1m54.599 on the 5.34km Motorland Aragon circuit. However, the French driver’s lap was over half a second slower than the best time of the day in the first session, a 1m54.023 set by Matt Bell in the no4 Nielsen Racing Duqueine-Nissan.
With a track temperature approaching 50 degrees centigrade and an air temperature of 40 degrees, the teams had to learn the limits of the track as well as cope with the hot conditions. Several drivers were served with stop and go penalties during the session for exceeding the track limits.
The no23 United Autosports Ligier was the second fastest car in FP2, with Wayne Boyd’s lap of 1m55.561 was nearly a second behind Henrion’s best lap. Matt Bell went third quickest in FP2, the British driver setting a 1m56.006, just ahead of David Droux in the no97 COOL Racing Ligier.
The GT3 entry was headed by the no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage, with Valentin Hasse Clot setting a 1m59.659 lap, which was over two seconds slower than the best time set in FP1, which was a 1m57.514 set by Sennan Fielding in the no42 Stellar Motorsport Audi.
Fielding was second fastest in FP2, the British driver posting a 1m59.988, three tenths behind the Aston Martin. The no18 Team Parker Racing Porsche of Scott Malvern was third fastest with 2m00.384 lap, nearly 0.6 seconds ahead of Jan Magnussen in the no88 GMB Motorsport Honda NSX.
Qualifying for the Aragon Round of the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup will be held on Friday morning, starting with GT3 at 10h20.
CLICK HERE for the result from FP2.
