The no14 AO by TF Oreca-Gibson was the fastest car on track during the shortened 90-minute session, with three time 4 Hours of Barcelona winner Louis Delétraz setting a 1m28.821 on the 4.657km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The lap was 0.232s faster than the nearest rival, which was the aforementioned no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca, with reigning champion Alex Lynn posting a 1m29.053 earlier in the Free Practice session.
The no30 Duqueine Team and no28 IDEC Sport Orecas were 3rd and 4th fastest with a 1m29.121 and 1m29.384 respectively.
LMP2 Pro/Am was headed by the no21 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson after a 1m30.026 set by Oliver Jarvis put the car in 11th overall. Reigning champions AF Corse were second fastest with Alessio Rovera’s 1m30.088 good enough for 13th overall and just 0.062s behind the class leading car.
Reigning Champions COOL Racing laid down a marker for their title defence with Manuel Espirito Santo posting a 1m35.045 to put the Swiss team at the head of the LMP3 time sheets. The no15 RLR M Sport was second fastest with a 1m35.603 set by Gael Julien, two tenths ahead of the no8 Team Virage Ligier with Gillian Henrion posting a 1m35.801.
The first official race weekend session for the new LMGT3 category saw 2017 LMGTE Champions JMW Motorsport head the field after Phil Keen posted a flying lap of 1m40.826 in the no66 Ferrari 296 LMGT3. The no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari was second fastest with Daniel Serra setting a 1m41.117 and Spirit of Race made it a Ferrari 1-2-3 when Matt Griffin lapped in 1m41.214.
In fact, the top five cars out of the 11 strong grid were Ferrari 286s, with AF Corse and GR Racing 4th and 5th respectively.
The second Free Practice session will take place tomorrow morning at 10h10.
CLICK HERE for the result from FP1 of the 4 Hours of Barcelona.
