The World Endurance Championship made its eagerly-anticipated return to racing this afternoon for the TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
In very warm and dry track conditions, 29 cars took to the 4.352 mile (7.004km) track for the first free practice session of the three-day race meeting.
The main headlines from FP1 can be found below.
LMP1
Rebellion Racing placed on top in LMP1 as French driver Noman Nato set a time of 2:02.488 early on in the No. 1 Rebellion R13 Gibson he shares with Bruno Senna and Gustavo Menezes.
ByKolles Racing Team’s No. 4 second quickest with Oli Webb at the wheel of the Enso CLM P1/01, 1.046s behind Nato’s pace-setting time .
No. 7 and No 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 HYBRID cars third and fourth fastest, hampered by the success handicap system.
LMGTE Pro
In LMGTE Pro Porsche lead the way, with Michael Christensen setting a lap time of 2:16.057 in the No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR – 19 he shares with Kevin Estre.
Aston Martin Racing clocked the second fastest time with home driver Maxime Martin at the wheel of the No. 97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR he shares with Alex Lynn.
Martin’s lap was 0.41s ahead of the No.91 Porsche driven by Gimmi Bruni and Richard Lietz .
AF Corse Ferrari placed fourth with James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi driving the No. 51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.
LMP2
Racing Team Nederland top LMP2 times as Giedo Van Der Garde sets the pace early in the session with a time of 2:03.888 in the ORECA 07 – Gibson.
The Dutch team completed a total of 36 laps during the session – most out of all the teams competing.
No. 38 JOTA Sport car entry second quickest as Anthony Davidson posted a second-fastest time of 2:03.935 on fresh Goodyear tyres.
Third in LMP2 was category leaders United Autosport as Phil Hanson posted a time of 2:04.119 early in the session.
LMGTE Am
The No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo driven by Nicklas Nielsen set the pace out of the 10 LMGTE Am entries, the Dane setting an unbeatable time of 2:17.853.
No. 98 Aston Martin Racing shared by Paul Dalla Lana, Augusto Farfus and Ross Gunn was second fastest with a time of 2:18.020
Third quickest was the No. 56 Team Project 1 entry with Matteo Cairoli piloting the Porsche 911 RSR which is sporting a new Mentos-themed livery for this event.
Several of the teams across the LMGTE Am and GTE Pro classes were given black and white flags or stop and go penalties for abusing track limits throughout the session
The second Free Practice session is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday 14 August) at 09h30 local time.