Practice report
WEC COTA
WEC COTA: Porsche on top in FP1
Campbell set the benchmark in the first session at COTA
Gary Watkins
Published: Aug 30, 2024, 8:42 PM
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A late charge from Matt Campbell propelled Porsche to the top of the timesheets in opening free practice for Sunday’s Austin round of the World Endurance Championship.
The Australian found almost exactly a second aboard the #5 Penske-run factory Porsche 963 LMDh as the chequered flag was being unfurled at the end of the 90-minute session on Friday afternoon.
Campbell posted a 1m53.574s to go nearly half a second clear of the next best in the Hypercar class around the 3.43-mile Circuit of The Americas.
Robert Kubica ended up second on 1m54.034s with a lap aboard the AF Corse-run customer Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar that stood as the fastest time for the majority of Free Practice 1.
The Polish driver went quickest after a short red-flag stoppage following a breakdown of communications in race control, knocking factory Ferrari driver Antonio Fuoco off the top spot.
Fuoco ended up fourth in the times after his 1m54.118s was bettered by Oliver Rasmussen with a 1m54.051s in the best of the privateer Jota team’s Porsche 963 and then by Campbell’s factory car.
Antonio Giovinazzi improved to fifth at the end of the session in the second of the factory Ferraris with a 1m54.186s.
The late improvements from Campbell and Giovinazzi pushed Earl Bamber down to sixth in the solo Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh in which he posted a 1m54.262s.
The championship-leading Porsche Penske Motorsport entry took seventh in the times, Kevin Estre setting a 1m54.276.
Rene Rast was top WRT BMW driver with a 1m54.286s good enough for eighth position, while the sister M Hybrid V8 was ninth in the hands of Marco Wittmann on a 1m54.510s.
Tenth place and the first car more than a second off Campbell’s chart-topping pace as the best of the Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMHs in which Nyck de Vries set a 1m54.620s.
Lamborghini was the next best manufacturer in 12th following a late improvement from Daniil Kvyat aboard the solo Iron Lynx-run SC63 LMDh.
The two Alpine A424 LMDhs took 13th and 14th in the hands of Mick Schumacher and Charles Milesi and the two Peugeot 9X8 2024 LMHs were 16th and 17th with times set by Stoffel Vandoorne and Mikkel Jensen.
Ferrari was quickest in LMGT3 courtesy of a 2m06.253 was Alessio Rovera in the best of the AF Corse-run 296 GT3s.
That gave him a margin of two-tenths over Dennis Olsen in the best of Proton Competition’s Ford Mustang GT3s.
He posted a 2m06.475s, which was three-tenths faster than Ben Barker in the sister Mustang.
The two TF Sport Chevrolet Z06 GT3.Rs took fourth and fifth in class, Charlie Eastwood ending up three hundredths quicker than team-mate Daniel Juncadella.
The two Manthey Porsche 911 GT3-Rs that sit atop the LMGT3 points classification were only 16th and 18th in the times.
Second free practice for Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race starts at 17:10 local time.
WEC COTA - FP1 results
Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info
1
-
4
Main Information Additional Data
1
-
2
Cla Team # Drivers Car Laps Time Interval km/h 1
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
5 M. Campbell
M. Christensen
F. Makowiecki Porsche 963 32
1'53.574
174.747 2
AF Corse HYPERCAR
83 R. Kubica
R. Shwartzman
Y. Yifei Ferrari 499P 39
+0.460
1'54.034
0.460 174.042 3
HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR
38 J. Button
P. Hanson
O. Rasmussen Porsche 963 33
+0.477
1'54.051
0.017 174.016 4
FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR
50 A. Fuoco
M. Molina
N. Nielsen Ferrari 499P 38
+0.544
1'54.118
0.067 173.914 5
FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR
51 A. Pier Guidi
J. Calado
A. Giovinazzi Ferrari 499P 35
+0.612
1'54.186
0.068 173.811 6
CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR
2 E. Bamber
A. Lynn Cadillac V-Series.R 34
+0.688
1'54.262
0.076 173.695 7
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
6 K. Estre
A. Lotterer
L. Vanthoor Porsche 963 31
+0.702
1'54.276
0.014 173.674 8
BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR
20 S. Van Der Linde
R. Frijns
R. Rast BMW M Hybrid V8 39
+0.712
1'54.286
0.010 173.659 9
BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR
15 D. Vanthoor
R. Marciello
M. Wittmann BMW M Hybrid V8 40
+0.936
1'54.510
0.224 173.319 10
Toyota Racing HYPERCAR
7 M. Conway
K. Kobayashi
N. de Vries Toyota GR010 - Hybrid 34
+1.046
1'54.620
0.110 173.153 11
HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR
12 W. Stevens
C. Ilott
N. Nato Porsche 963 32
+1.064
1'54.638
0.018 173.125 12
Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR
63 M. Bortolotti
E. Mortara
D. Kvyat Lamborghini SC63 35
+1.243
1'54.817
0.179 172.855 13
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
36 N. Lapierre
M. Schumacher
M. Vaxiviere Alpine A424 36
+1.451
1'55.025
0.208 172.543 14
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
35 P. Chatin
F. Habsburg
C. Milesi Alpine A424 23
+1.472
1'55.046
0.021 172.511 15
Toyota Racing HYPERCAR
8 S. Buemi
B. Hartley
R. Hirakawa Toyota GR010 - Hybrid 33
+1.486
1'55.060
0.014 172.490 16
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR
94 P. di Resta
L. Duval
S. Vandoorne Peugeot 9X8 2024 33
+1.930
1'55.504
0.444 171.827 17
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR
93 M. Jensen
N. Müller
J. Vergne Peugeot 9X8 2024 30
+1.961
1'55.535
0.031 171.781 18
Proton Competition HYPERCAR
99 H. Tincknell
N. Jani
J. Andlauer Porsche 963 23
+2.198
1'55.772
0.237 171.430 19
Vista AF Corse LMGT3
55 F. Heriau
S. Mann
A. Rovera Ferrari 296 GT3 34
+12.679
2'06.253
10.481 157.198 20
Proton Competition LMGT3
88 B. Keating
M. Pedersen
D. Olsen Ford Mustang GT3 20
+12.901
2'06.475
0.222 156.922 21
Proton Competition LMGT3
77 R. Hardwick
Z. Robichon
B. Barker Ford Mustang GT3 31
+13.149
2'06.723
0.248 156.615 22
TF Sport LMGT3
81 T. Van Rompuy
R. Andrade
C. Eastwood Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 31
+13.253
2'06.827
0.104 156.487 23
TF Sport LMGT3
82 H. Koizumi
S. Baud
D. Juncadella Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 29
+13.286
2'06.860
0.033 156.446 24
Heart of Racing Team LMGT3
27 I. James
D. Mancinelli
A. Riberas Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 34
+13.298
2'06.872
0.012 156.431 25
United Autosports LMGT3
95 J. Caygill
N. Pino
M. Sato McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 35
+13.583
2'07.157
0.285 156.081 26
D'Station Racing LMGT3
777 C. Mateu
E. Bastard
M. Sorensen Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 32
+13.716
2'07.290
0.133 155.917 27
TEAM WRT LMGT3
46 A. Al Harthy
V. Rossi
M. Martin BMW M4 GT3 35
+13.721
2'07.295
0.005 155.911 28
United Autosports LMGT3
59 J. Cottingham N. Costa G. Saucy McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 32
+13.744
2'07.318
0.023 155.883 29
Vista AF Corse LMGT3
54 T. Flohr
F. Castellacci
D. Rigon Ferrari 296 GT3 29
+14.033
2'07.607
0.289 155.530 30
AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3
78
A. Robin
C. Schmid
K. van der Linde Lexus RC F GT3 30
+14.069
2'07.643
0.036 155.486 31
TEAM WRT LMGT3
31
D. Leung
S. Gelael
A. Farfus BMW M4 GT3 35
+14.239
2'07.813
0.170 155.279 32
AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3
87 T. Kimura
E. Masson
J. Lopez Lexus RC F GT3 30
+14.505
2'08.079
0.266 154.957 33
IRON LYNX LMGT3
60 C. Schiavoni
M. Cressoni
F. Perera
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 17
+14.593
2'08.167
0.088 154.851 34
Manthey EMA LMGT3
91
Y. Shahin
M. Schuring
R. Lietz Porsche 911 GT3 R 34
+14.640
2'08.214
0.047 154.794 35
IRON DAMES LMGT3
85 S. Bovy
R. Frey
M. Gatting Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 29
+14.713
2'08.287
0.073 154.706 36
Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3
92
A. Malykhin
J. Sturm
K. Bachler Porsche 911 GT3 R 34
+14.847
2'08.421
0.134 154.544 View full results
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