Porsche’s Kevin Estre topped the timesheets, with a 2:01.475, in a heavily disrupted free practice 2 session for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, with three red flags leading to lengthy delays and a session extension.
The first red flag was caused by Antonio Giovinazzi, in the #51 Ferrarri crashing at Eau Rouge after completing just a couple of laps in the session. This led to a 10 minute stoppage while the car was recovered and the barriers moved back into the correct position. Giovinazzi was uninjured in the crash, with a Ferrari spokesperson saying “there are no consequences for the driver’.
There was then a period of on track running, totalling around half an hour punctuated byu a full course yellow, before the next red flag. This was also for a crash at Eau Rouge, Stephen Grove in the #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes AMG-GT3 crashing heavily.
Finally, the third and final red flag of the session came just 10 minutes from the end, with Tom Gamble crashing the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie backwards info the barriers at Pouhon. Like Giovinazzi, an Aston Martin spokesperson also confirmed the Briton was unhurt in the crash.
Estre tops session from Ferrari and BMW
With the session extended, lasting a total of 2 hours, 11 minutes. Estre topped the times in the #6 Porsche. Second was the #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, 0.091 off Estre, while third went to bRobin Frijns in the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, just over three tenths off Estre.
Fourth was Alex Lynn in the #12 JOTA-run Cadillac V-Series.R, while fifth went to the sister factory Porsche, with Julien Andlauer at the wheel of the #5 machine.
Aston Martin and Robichon top in LMGT3
In LMGT3, Zacharie Robichon set the pace in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, with a 2:18.326 the fastest lap. Second and third were the two ASP Lexus RC F GT3s, Clemens Schmid ahead of Finn Gehrsitz. Schmid was half a tenth back with Gehrsitz another half tenth off.
See the full results on the FIA WEC website. FP3 begins tomorrow at 11am local time.
