WEC: Toyotas top Practice 1 and 2 at Portimao

Kamui Kobayashi continued Toyota’s strong form in Portimao after topping second practice for this weekend’s World Endurance Championship round ahead of team-mate Ryo Hirakawa.

Sebastien Buemi claimed the fastest lap of the opening 90-minute practice session at Portimao this morning.

Porsche 963, Porsche Penske Motorsport (#5), Dane Cameron (USA), Michael Christensen (DK), Frederic Makowiecki (F) leads the #7 Toyota

After Sebastien Buemi had led the way in first practice aboard the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID, Kobayashi took up the early running aboard the #7 machine with a 1m32.155s.

Buemi, who won the 2021 WEC race held at the same circuit with then teammates Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley, scorched to a best lap of 1m32.792s.

The World Champions began the season with a dominant one-two victory against a record Hypercar field in the first round at Sebring four weeks ago, and the team built on that by setting the practice pace at Portimão.

Single lap times were, however, not the priority. Victory in round one was built on meticulous preparation, development of competitive race set-ups and an in-depth understanding of tire characteristics, and those factors were the focus of practice in Portugal as the team seeks a repeat performance.

An intense program of adjusting the updated GR010 HYBRID to the demands of the 4.653km circuit on its first visit to Portimão since last April 2022 began on a sunny, windy morning with air temperatures of 14°C.

3rd Quick in FP2 – The #50 Ferrari 499P in Portimão for the second round of the FIA WEC

Gabriel Aubry claimed the top spot in LMP2 with a 1m34.609s aboard his Vector Sport ORECA-Gibson 07

Ferrari swept the top three positions in GTE Am, as Daniel Serra repeated his FP1 form aboard the Kessel Racing 488 GTE Evo.

Practice 1 Results

Pos	No.	Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Time	Behind	Gap
1	8	Sébastien Buemi Brendon Hartley Ryo Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 – Hybrid	HYPERCAR	43	1’32.792	0.000	0.000
2	7	Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi Jose Maria Lopez	Toyota GR010 – Hybrid	HYPERCAR	43	1’33.176	0.384	0.384
3	51	Alessandro Pier Guidi James Calado Antonio Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	HYPERCAR	35	1’33.453	0.661	0.277
4	50	Antonio Fuoco Miguel Molina Nicklas Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	HYPERCAR	40	1’33.569	0.777	0.116
5	5	Dane Cameron Michael Christensen Frédéric Makowiecki	Porsche 963	HYPERCAR	36	1’33.688	0.896	0.119
6	6	Kevin Estre Andre Lotterer Laurens Vanthoor	Porsche 963	HYPERCAR	37	1’33.792	1.000	0.104
7	2	Earl Bamber Alex Lynn Richard Westbrook	Cadillac V-Series.R	HYPERCAR	23	1’34.107	1.315	0.315
8	94	Loic Duval Gustavo Menezes Nico Müller	Peugeot 9X8	HYPERCAR	40	1’34.523	1.731	0.416
9	63	Doriane Pin Mirko Bortolotti Daniil Kvyat	Oreca 07	LMP2	41	1’34.542	1.750	0.019
10	9	Filip Ugran Juan Manuel Correa Bent Viscaal	Oreca 07	LMP2	38	1’34.884	2.092	0.342
11	34	Jakub Smiechowski Fabio Scherer Albert Costa	Oreca 07	LMP2	41	1’34.920	2.128	0.036
12	93	Paul di Resta Mikkel Jensen Jean-Eric Vergne	Peugeot 9X8	HYPERCAR	26	1’35.033	2.241	0.113
13	23	Josh Pierson Giedo van der Garde Oliver Jarvis	Oreca 07	LMP2	41	1’35.035	2.243	0.002
14	41	Rui Andrade Robert Kubica Louis Deletraz	Oreca 07	LMP2	39	1’35.042	2.250	0.007
15	22	Frederick Lubin Philip Hanson Ben Hanley	Oreca 07	LMP2	42	1’35.129	2.337	0.087
16	28	David Heinemeier Hansson Pietro Fittipaldi Oliver Rasmussen	Oreca 07	LMP2	36	1’35.212	2.420	0.083
17	48	David Beckmann Ye Yifei Antonio Felix da Costa	Oreca 07	LMP2	39	1’35.244	2.452	0.032
18	31	Sean Gelael Ferdinand Habsburg Robin Frijns	Oreca 07	LMP2	40	1’35.260	2.468	0.016
19	35	Andre Negrao Memo Rojas Olli Caldwell	Oreca 07	LMP2	34	1’35.293	2.501	0.033
20	4	Tom Dillmann Esteban Guerrieri Jacques Villeneuve	Vanwall Vandervell 680	HYPERCAR	36	1’35.309	2.517	0.016
21	36	Matthieu Vaxiviere Julien Canal Charles Milesi	Oreca 07	LMP2	40	1’35.442	2.650	0.133
22	708	Romain Dumas Ryan Briscoe Olivier Pla	Glickenhaus 007	HYPERCAR	34	1’35.496	2.704	0.054
23	10	Ryan Cullen Matthias Kaiser Gabriel Aubry	Oreca 07	LMP2	22	1’36.119	3.327	0.623
24	57	Takeshi Kimura Scott Huffaker Daniel Serra	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	39	1’41.341	8.549	5.222
25	98	Paul Dalla Lana Axcil Jefferies Nicki Thiim	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	37	1’41.858	9.066	0.517
26	88	Ryan Hardwick Zacharie Robichon Harry Tincknell	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	36	1’41.862	9.070	0.004
27	83	Luis Perez Companc Lilou Wadoux Alessio Rovera	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	38	1’41.885	9.093	0.023
28	33	Ben Keating Nicolas Varrone Nick Catsburg	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R	LMGTE AM	35	1’41.896	9.104	0.011
29	56	Miguel Pedro Guilherme Moura Matteo Cairoli	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	38	1’41.940	9.148	0.044
30	85	Sarah Bovy Michelle Gatting Rahel Frey	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	34	1’41.944	9.152	0.004
31	60	Claudio Schiavoni Matteo Cressoni Alessio Picariello	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	36	1’42.071	9.279	0.127
32	86	Michael Wainwright Riccardo Pera Benjamin Barker	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	37	1’42.176	9.384	0.105
33	54	Thomas Flohr Francesco Castellacci Davide Rigon	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	38	1’42.287	9.495	0.111
34	21	Diego Alessi Simon Mann Ulysse De	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	40	1’42.296	9.504	0.009
35	777	Satoshi Hoshino Casper Stevenson Tomonobu Fujii	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	37	1’42.648	9.856	0.352
36	25	Ahmad Al Harthy Michael Dinan Charles Eastwood	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	39	1’42.871	10.079	0.223
37	77	Christian Ried Mikkel Pedersen Julien Andlauer	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	34	1’42.931	10.139	0.060

Practice 2 Results

Pos	No.	Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Time	Behind	Gap
1	7	Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi Jose Maria Lopez	Toyota GR010 – Hybrid	HYPERCAR	49	1’32.155	0.000	0.000
2	8	Sébastien Buemi Brendon Hartley Ryo Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 – Hybrid	HYPERCAR	49	1’33.114	0.959	0.959
3	50	Antonio Fuoco Miguel Molina Nicklas Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	HYPERCAR	49	1’33.301	1.146	0.187
4	51	Alessandro Pier Guidi James Calado Antonio Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	HYPERCAR	52	1’33.431	1.276	0.130
5	94	Loic Duval Gustavo Menezes Nico Müller	Peugeot 9X8	HYPERCAR	32	1’33.829	1.674	0.398
6	5	Dane Cameron Michael Christensen Frédéric Makowiecki	Porsche 963	HYPERCAR	42	1’34.076	1.921	0.247
7	93	Paul di Resta Mikkel Jensen Jean-Eric Vergne	Peugeot 9X8	HYPERCAR	48	1’34.101	1.946	0.025
8	2	Earl Bamber Alex Lynn Richard Westbrook	Cadillac V-Series.R	HYPERCAR	47	1’34.103	1.948	0.002
9	708	Romain Dumas Ryan Briscoe Olivier Pla	Glickenhaus 007	HYPERCAR	46	1’34.142	1.987	0.039
10	6	Kevin Estre Andre Lotterer Laurens Vanthoor	Porsche 963	HYPERCAR	52	1’34.356	2.201	0.214
11	10	Ryan Cullen Matthias Kaiser Gabriel Aubry	Oreca 07	LMP2	48	1’34.609	2.454	0.253
12	34	Jakub Smiechowski Fabio Scherer Albert Costa	Oreca 07	LMP2	49	1’34.691	2.536	0.082
13	4	Tom Dillmann Esteban Guerrieri Jacques Villeneuve	Vanwall Vandervell 680	HYPERCAR	31	1’34.745	2.590	0.054
14	63	Doriane Pin Mirko Bortolotti Daniil Kvyat	Oreca 07	LMP2	45	1’34.837	2.682	0.092
15	31	Sean Gelael Ferdinand Habsburg Robin Frijns	Oreca 07	LMP2	47	1’35.039	2.884	0.202
16	23	Josh Pierson Giedo van der Garde Oliver Jarvis	Oreca 07	LMP2	46	1’35.149	2.994	0.110
17	9	Filip Ugran Juan Manuel Correa Bent Viscaal	Oreca 07	LMP2	47	1’35.199	3.044	0.050
18	41	Rui Andrade Robert Kubica Louis Deletraz	Oreca 07	LMP2	46	1’35.200	3.045	0.001
19	28	David Heinemeier Hansson Pietro Fittipaldi Oliver Rasmussen	Oreca 07	LMP2	47	1’35.450	3.295	0.250
20	36	Matthieu Vaxiviere Julien Canal Charles Milesi	Oreca 07	LMP2	50	1’35.701	3.546	0.251
21	48	David Beckmann Ye Yifei Antonio Felix da Costa	Oreca 07	LMP2	48	1’36.018	3.863	0.317
22	22	Frederick Lubin Philip Hanson Ben Hanley	Oreca 07	LMP2	8	1’36.098	3.943	0.080
23	35	Andre Negrao Memo Rojas Olli Caldwell	Oreca 07	LMP2	45	1’36.776	4.621	0.678
24	57	Takeshi Kimura Scott Huffaker Daniel Serra	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	48	1’41.209	9.054	4.433
25	83	Luis Perez Companc Lilou Wadoux Alessio Rovera	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	44	1’41.255	9.100	0.046
26	54	Thomas Flohr Francesco Castellacci Davide Rigon	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	46	1’41.319	9.164	0.064
27	86	Michael Wainwright Riccardo Pera Benjamin Barker	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	45	1’41.523	9.368	0.204
28	33	Ben Keating Nicolas Varrone Nick Catsburg	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R	LMGTE AM	47	1’41.635	9.480	0.112
29	21	Diego Alessi Simon Mann Ulysse De	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	49	1’41.694	9.539	0.059
30	85	Sarah Bovy Michelle Gatting Rahel Frey	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	43	1’41.710	9.555	0.016
31	56	Miguel Pedro Guilherme Moura Matteo Cairoli	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	46	1’41.998	9.843	0.288
32	60	Claudio Schiavoni Matteo Cressoni Alessio Picariello	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	40	1’42.018	9.863	0.020
33	88	Ryan Hardwick Zacharie Robichon Harry Tincknell	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	40	1’42.065	9.910	0.047
34	25	Ahmad Al Harthy Michael Dinan Charles Eastwood	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	44	1’42.149	9.994	0.084
35	77	Christian Ried Mikkel Pedersen Julien Andlauer	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	36	1’42.229	10.074	0.080
36	777	Satoshi Hoshino Casper Stevenson Tomonobu Fujii	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	45	1’42.314	10.159	0.085
37	98	Paul Dalla Lana Axcil Jefferies Nicki Thiim	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	46	1’42.673	10.518	0.359