At the conclusion of the first 90-minute practice session ahead of the WEC’s 6 Hours of Monza, it is the Le Mans winning #51 Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi atop the time sheets having set a lap of 1:37.533 around the Italian marque’s home circuit.
Rivals were cut short from challenging the top time as a red flag was brought out with three minutes of the session remaining. The second-placed Hypercar was the #38 Jota-run Porsche 963, with Yifei Ye lapping Monza in a time of 1:37.536. Third place was the #5 Penske Porsche 963 car, which posted a time of 1:37.824 courtesy of Michael Christensen. Mike Conway posted the fourth fastest time, the quickest of the Toyotas. The #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid set a time of 1:37.841.
Mixing it with the big manufacturers and splitting the two Toyotas was the fifth-placed Glickenhaus 007 with Olivier Pla setting a time of 1:37.917 in the #708 machine. Sebastian Buemi set the sixth fastest time of 1:37.951 in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, ahead of the #50 Ferrari 499P, which lapped Monza in a time of 1:38.033 courtesy of Antonio Fuoco. The top eight in Hypercar was rounded out by the #6 Penske Porsche 963 with Laurens Vanthoor posting a time of 1:38.066, 0.533 seconds off of the leading pace set by Pier Gudi.
There was trouble for the #93 Peugeot 9X8 throughout the session, with the car resigned to the pit garage for 38 straight minutes within the first hour of the session. There were also issues for Proton Competition, who are making their Hypercar debut with the #99 Porsche 963. Driver Harry Tincknell came to a halt partway through the session and the entry finished last in the Hypercar standings.
It was a 1-2 for WRT in LMP2, the championship-leading #41 Oreca 07-Gibson topped the category with Robert Kubica’s time of 1:40.356, ahead of the #31 Oreca 07-Gibson of Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen, who set a time of 1:40.561. The top three in LMP2 was rounded out by Le Mans-winning Inter Europol Competition’s #34 Oreca 07-Gibson with Albert Costa lapping the Italian ‘Temple of Speed’ in a time of 1:40.605.
In LMGTE Am, there was more Italian pride to be had as the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo topped the standings. Davide Rigon took early bragging rights by posting a time of 1:47.538. In second was the #60 Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR – 19 of Matteo Cressoni, who set a time of 1:47.645. Third in GTE Am went to Riccardo Pera in the #86 Porsche 911 RSR – 19 run by GR Racing, with a time of 1:47.846.
Will the early pace setters in first practice be able to carry their form throughout the rest of this weekend’s action in Monza? Free Practice 2 gets underway at 16:40 local time.
