Sebastien Buemi set the pace in the opening practice session for the FIA World Endurance Championship, with the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid driver setting a 1:32.792 to head the field.
The sister #7 Toyota was next, Mike Conway lapping the Portuguese track in 1:33.176. The two Ferraris were up next, with the #51 Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi setting a 1:33.453 and his teammate Nicklas Nielsen fourth in the #50 Ferrari with a 1:33.569.
Following the two-by-two trend, in fifth and sixth were the Porsches, with Fred Makowiecki in the #5 Porsche 963 followed by Laurens Vanthoor in the #6. The #2 Cadillac V.Series-R of Earl Bamber was next, followed by the #94 Peugeot of Gustavo Menezes, then the sister #93 Peugeot of Loic Duval, the #4 Vanwall 680 of Tom Dillmann, and Olivier Pla in the #708 Glickenhaus.
In LMP2, Mirko Bortolotti was quickest in the #63 Prema Oreca 07-Gibson, setting a 1:34.542, faster than the #93 Peugeot, Vanwall, and Glickenhaus. Teammate Bent Viscaal was three tenths slower in the #9 Prema Oreca 07-Gibson, while Fabio Scherer was third in the #34 Inter Europol Oreca 07-Gibson.
Finally, in GTE-Am, #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo’s Daniel Serra set a 1:41.341 to top the times, followed by Nicki Thiim in the #98 Northwest Aston Martin Vantage AMR, with the Dane half a second off. Harry Tincknell completed the top three in the #88 Proton Porsche 911 RSR-19.
Free practice 2 begins at 15:30 local time, with the race starting at 12:00 on Sunday 16th April.
