Porsche Penske Motorsport topped the timing screens in the final practice session for the Totalenergies 6 Hours of Spa after Kevin Estre set a 2:04.125 early in the 60-minute FP3. Second quickest was the#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi with a lap time of 2:04.340
Completing the top three in only its third outing in the FIA World Endurance Championship was the #93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8 of Paul Di Resta and Loic Duval which lapped in 2:04.357.
Porsche was quickest in the LMGT3 class where the #92 Manthey Purerxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGTS was quickest with a 2:20.947 set by Klaus Bachler in the car he shares with Aliaksander Makykhin and Joel Sturm. Second quickest was the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2 followed by the #82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3 R.
The session got underway in perfect conditions at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps as penalties were applied to six of the runners, the majority of which were for speeding under the safety car in FP2.
Kevin Estre, at the wheel of the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, set the early pace in the Hypercar class with a 2:04.125 followed by Antonio Giovinazzi in the #51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferraro 499P.
The session was neutralised after 15 minutes after the #82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LNGT3R driven by Hiroshi Koizumi went off into the gravel at T5. The session went back to green flag running after six minutes and the #82 car returned to the pitlane. Little damage was done, however, and the car quickly returned to the track.
Andrea Caldarelli took the wheel of the #63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 for his first outing of the season in WEC.
With nearly half the session run, the #6 Porsche 963 stood at the top of the Hypercar timing screens, followed by the #51 Ferrari. Third quickest was the #93 Peugeot Totalenergies in which Mikkel Jensen set a 2:04.357.
In the LMGT3 class, the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2 was quickest with a 2:21.219 set by Michelle Gatting, followed by the sister #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini.
Third quickest was the #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo.
Gatting was served with a five-minute stop and go penalty for Gatting in the #85 Lamborghini for speeding under the full course yellow and the session was neutralised for the second time due to debris at the final chicane. Green flag running resumed with just under ten minutes left in the session.
There was drama for the #38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche after Oliver Rasmussen went off and nose-dived the car into the grass run-off. The #38 car returned to the pits and was immediately pushed back into the garage with suspicion of significant front end and underfloor damage.
The #2 Cadillac with Earl Bamber at the wheel also had an off-track excursion at Les Combes and returned back to the pits.
Qualifying for round three of the FIA World Endurance Championship gets underway at 1445 CET with the lights going out for the six-hour contest at 1300 CET on Saturday May the 11th.
