Rebellion Racing has posted the quickest time in second free practice for Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, but suffered a late engine failure that could see the team in trouble for qualifying later today.
Gustavo Menezes set the quickest time in the #1 Rebellion R13 with 01:48:804, but it was his team-mate Bruno Senna that was forced to pull off the track as his Gibson engine began smoking. The team will likely have to perform an engine change before qualifying, which starts at 18:10pm local time.
Behind Rebellion, Brendon Hartley put the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid second in a difficult session for the team that saw it suffer both door and bodywork issues. The Kiwi put in a 01:49:458, which was only four-tenths quicker than the fastest LMP2 runner, which was Nyck de Vries in the #29 Racing Team Nederland ORECA 07-Gibson.
Mike Conway posted the fastest time in the #7 Toyota, but once again felt the effect of the Success Handicap as he was seventh overall, 2,5s off Menezes’ fastest time.
Behind De Vries, Gabriel Aubry was second fastest in the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA 07-Gibson, ahead of Thomas Laurent in the #36 Signatech Alpine A470-Gibson.
Michael Christensen put the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 up top in GTE Pro thanks to a 02:01:716, a mere 0.053s clear of the #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of championship leader Marco Sorensen, with the #91 Porsche of Gianmaria Bruni third.
Dempsey-Proton Competition once again led the way in GTE Am, with the #77 Porsche 911 RSR of Matt Campbell posted a 02:02:192, ahead of the #98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Ross Gunn, who was some four-tenths behind. MR Racing’s Kei Cozzolino made it three different manufacturers in the top three as he went third quickest in the #70 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.
