Rebellion Racing has topped the timing sheets in first free practice ahead of this weekend's 4 Hours of Shanghai, beating out the two Ginettas while Toyota brought up the rear.
Gustavo Menezes set the quickest time in the #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson. The 25-year-old set a time of 01:48:761 to put him ahead of the two Team LNT entries, which were second and third.
Ben Hanley put the #5 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 – AER in the runner-up spot. Hanley's 01:49:183 put him some four tenths down on Menezes. The #5 also spent time in the garage with a fuel pressure issue, but still beat the #6 sister Ginetta in the hands of Charlie Robertson by 0.051s.
Toyota brought up the rear of the pack in first practice. Kamui Kobayashi put in a 01:50:085 in the #7 TS050 Hybrid for fourth while Sebastien Buemi's 01:50:884 landed him fifth.
That time was some two-tenths slower than the time Nicolas Lapierre set in the #42 Cool Racing ORECA 07-Gibson to top the sheets in LMP2. The Frenchman put in a 01:50:338 .Championship leader Giedo van der Garde was second in the #29 Racing Team Nederland ORECA 07-Gibson, nearly six tenths down. Filipe Albuquerque set third in the #22 United Autosports ORECA.
Richard Lietz led the way for Porsche in GTE Pro. The Austrian's 02:01:389 was enough to go quickest in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19. He was less than a tenth quicker than Nicki Thiim, who won last year in the #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR. T
his put him two-tenths up on James Calado in the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. The other Ferrari, the #71 of Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina, did not run during the session as it was struck by a fuel leak.
Matteo Cairoli went quickest in GTE Am in the #56 Team Project Porsche 911 RSR, ahead of the two Aston Martin Vantage AMRs. The #98 Aston Martin Racing entry came second, while the Fuji-winning #90 TF Sport car completed the top three.
