WEC: Da Costa’s Jota LMP2 fastest in FP1

Local hero Antonio Felix da Costa set the fastest time of the opening 90-minute session for round two of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship at the 8 Hours of Portimao, while Porsche continues to head the LMGTE Pro class.

Da Costa’s best lap in the JOTA LMP2 entry is just 0.029s faster than the chasing pack with the top ten covered by less than a second.

The session at a glance:

Hypercar  

•    Alpine Elf Matmut lead Hypercar class as Nicolas Lapierre peaks on a 1m33.781 as the French squad lead both Toyota GR010 Hybrids
•    Sebastien Buemi set a time of 1m33.800s just 0.029s off Lapierre’s best
•    No.7 Toyota is third with Kamui Kobayashi turning in a 1m33.807s
•    Glickenhaus Racing makes debut with striking Glickenhaus 007 Hypercar and Richard Westbrook peaks on a 1m34.789s to carve strong foundation for US-entered team

LMGTE Pro  
•    No.92 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR–19 driven by Kevin Estre sets quickest time of 1m40.227s to head sister car driven by Gimmi Bruni who sets a 1m40.389sbest
•    AF Corse Ferrari 0.4s off Porsches as No.51 488 GTE Evo of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi leads No.52 car of Miguel Molina and Daniel Serra

LMP2  
•    Da Costa’s searing lap sees JOTA top the LMP2 class as well as overall pace setters
•    The Portuguese driver’s time of 1m33.752s sees him lead the Inter Europol Competition by 0.2s
•    Alex Brundle sets early session best as Dutch team shows improved form from Spa
•    DragonSpeed USA place third as Ben Hanley sets a fastest time of 1m34.268s to make strong start for car he shares with Juan Pablo Montoya and Henrik Hedman
•    Reigning champions, United Autosports USA are fourth but just 0.026s off third place

LMGTE Am  
•    LMGTE Am class is topped by the No.77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche as Matt Campbell continues potent form by setting class best of 1m41.202s
•    Andre Piccini places second in No.60 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GTE Evo just 0.224s behind Campbell
•    Third is the No.56 Team Project 1 Porsche which was re-built after Spa accident last month. Matteo Cairoli sets time of 1m41.484s

Friday Practice 1 Results

Pos Drivers Car Class Time Gap
1 Roberto Gonzalez
Antonio Felix da Costa
Anthony Davidson
Oreca 07 LMP2 1m33.752s 0.000s
2 Andre Negrao
Nicolas Lapierre
Matthieu Vaxiviere
Alpine A480 HYPERCAR 1m33.781s 0.029
3 Sébastien Buemi
Kazuki Nakajima
Brendon Hartley
Toyota GR010 – Hybrid HYPERCAR 1m33.800s 0.048
4 Mike Conway
Kamui Kobayashi
Jose Maria Lopez
Toyota GR010 – Hybrid HYPERCAR 1m33.807s 0.055
5 Jakub Smiechowski
Louis Deletraz
Alex Brundle
Oreca 07 LMP2 1m33.979s 0.227
6 Henrik Hedman
Juan Pablo Montoya
Ben Hayley
Oreca 07 LMP2 1m34.268s 0.516
7 Philip Hanson
Fabio Scherer
Paul di Resta
Oreca 07 LMP2 1m34.294s 0.542
8 Frits van Eerd
Giedo van der Garde
Job Van Uitert
Oreca 07 LMP2 1m34.299s 0.547
9 Sean Gelael
Stoffel Vandoorne
Tom Blomqvist
Oreca 07 LMP2 1m34.627s 0.875
10 Esteban Garcia
Mathias Beche
Norman Nato
Oreca 07 LMP2 1m34.668s 0.916
11 Robin Frijns
Ferdinand Habsburg
Charles Milesi
Oreca 07 LMP2 1m34.742s 0.990
12 Ryan Briscoe
Romain Dumas
Richard Westbrook
Glickenhaus 007 LMH HYPERCAR 1m34.789s 1.037
13 Jan Magnussen
Anders Fjordbach
Dennis Andersen
Oreca 07 LMP2 1m35.019s 1.267
14 Tatiana Calderon
Sophia Flörsch
Beitske Visser
Oreca 07 LMP2 1m36.074s 2.322
15 Miro Konopka
Oliver Webb
Tom Jackson
Ligier JSP 217 LMP2 1m36.453s 2.701
16 Kevin Estre
Neel Jani
Michael Christensen
Porsche 911 RSR – 19 LMGTE PRO 1m40.227s 6.475
17 Gianmaria Bruni
Richard Lietz
Frédéric Makowiecki
Porsche 911 RSR – 19 LMGTE PRO 1m40.389s 6.637
18 Daniel Serra
Miguel Molina
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 1m40.682s 6.930
19 Alessandro Pier Guidi
James Calado
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 1m40.738s 6.986
20 Christian Ried
Jaxon Evans
Matt Campbell
Porsche 911 RSR – 19 LMGTE AM 1m41.202s 7.450
21 Claudio Schiavoni
Andrea Piccini
Matteo Cressoni
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 1m41.426s 7.674
22 Egidio Perfetti
Matteo Cairoli
Riccardo Pera
Porsche 911 RSR – 19 LMGTE AM 1m41.484s 7.732
23 Paul Dalla Lana
Augusto Farfus
Marcos Gomes
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 1m41.495s 7.743
24 Thomas Flohr
Francesco Castellacci
Giancarlo Fisichella
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 1m41.575s 7.823
25 Ben Keating
Dylan Pereira
Felipe Fraga
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 1m41.667s 7.915
26 François Perrodo
Nicklas Nielsen
Alessio Rovera
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 1m41.728s 7.976
27 Rahel Frey
Michelle Gatting
Manuela Gostner
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 1m41.768s 8.016
28 Dominique Bastien
Marco Seefried
Julien Andlauer
Porsche 911 RSR – 19 LMGTE AM 1m41.787s 8.035
29 Michael Wainwright
Benjamin Barker
Tom Gamble
Porsche 911 RSR – 19 LMGTE AM 1m41.791s 8.039
30 Roberto Lacorte
Giorgio Sernagiotto
Antonio Fuoco
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 1m41.815s 8.063
31 Takeshi Kimura
Mikkel Jensen
Scott Andrews
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 1m41.970s 8.218
32 Satoshi Hoshino
Tomonobu Fujii
Andrew Watson
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 1m41.977s 8.225