(Photo: Toger Jenkins)
Porsche Penske Motorsport finished the second practice session of the Test Day for the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans by setting the two quickest times of the day. The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 driven by Kévin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor the time sheets for the afternoon session, Estre lapping in 3:26.907 on the 25th tour for the works Porsche squad.
Second quickest of the session was the sister #4 Porsche 963 piloted by Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy, Nasr circulating in 3:27.142 on his 18th lap.
Completing the top three in the Hypercar category was the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010-Hybrid in which Brendon Hartley put in 3:27.615
In the LMP2 category, class honours in the second Test Day session went to the #22 United Autosports ORECA 07 in which Oliver Jarvis lapped in 3:24.704 in the car he shared with Bijoy Garg. Algarve Pro were second quickest with its #25 car lapping in 3:35.981 in the hands of Olli Caldwell.
Leading the LMP2 Pro Am times was James Allen in the #30 Duqueine Team entry, the young Australian driver putting in 3:36.354 late in the three-hour session.
The LMGT3 timing screens were headed by the #82 TF Sport Corvette ZO6 LMGT3R driven by Hiroshi Koizume, Sébastien Baud and Dani Juncadella, Baud lapping in a class-leading 3:59.883 on the 29th tour for the new-for-2024 Corvette. Second quickest in class was Alex Riberas in the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3.
The red flag came out just after the 45 minute mark when Stéphane Richelmi, at the wheel of the #10 Vector Sport ORECA, went off at Indianapolis. Most of the grid achieved good track time in the session but there was drama for the #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid which could only manage 12 laps following an engine change. There were problems too for the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 which only put in 13 laps across the nearly three hours of the session.
The red flag brought a premature end to FP2 after Kamui Kobayashi, driving the #7 Toyota, had an incident with less than ten minutes remaining. As a result the session was halted with the note that it would not resume.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Brendon Hartley was pleased with the progress the #8 Toyota GR010 had made during the day.
“It’s really nice to be back at Le Mans,” said Hartley. “Every year I come back her it is a real, pleasure; it feels like we are back at home. It was a smooth day with no real drama and we got through the majority of the run plan.
“There were a few red flags and safety cars but that’s the same for everyone. It looks promising for us at this stage. We never know what everyone is doing but it’s been a promising start.”
The 24 Hours of Le Mans will next see track action on Wednesday June the 12th with the 60-minute qualifying session taking place between FP1 and FP2.
