Matteo Cairoli was the fastest driver during the first Free Practice session of the 4 Hours of Le Castellet weekend with the Italian driver posting a 1m49.096 lap in the no9 Iron Lynx-Proton Oreca 07-Gibson, eight tenths of a second faster than the rest of the 44-car field.
The no10 Vector Sport Oreca was the second quickest car in the 90-minute session with Pietro Fittipaldi lapping the 5.8km Circuit Paul Ricard in 1m49.983, 0.263s ahead of the third fastest entrant the no34 Inter Europol Competition of Luca Ghiotto. The no48 VDS Panis Racing finished the session fourth fastest with a 1m50.318.
The no3 DKR Engineering Oreca of Laurents Horr was the fastest of the eight LMP2 Pro/Am runners, the German posting a 1m50.437 which was 7th fastest overall and seven places ahead of the second fastest LMP2 Pro/Am car, the no20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca of Olli Caldwell with a 1m51.089. TDS Racing were third fastest with a 1m51.188, 0.253s ahead of the no14 AO by TF Oreca.
Championship leaders CLX Motorsport were the fastest of the LMP3 field, with Adrien Closmenil’s time of 1m58.701 0.116s ahead of the no8 Team Virage Ligier driven by Rik Koen.
The no88 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Reece Gold was third fastest in the LMP3 category with a 1m59.067, just 0.031s ahead of the no68 M Racing Ligier of Quentin Antonel.
The no51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 headed the 13 strong LMGT3 field, with Davide Rigon setting a 2m03.716 to claim the top spot by just 0.028s. The no50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari was second quickest, with Riccardo Agostini’s time 0.3 seconds ahead of the no86 GR Racing 296 after Riccardo Pera set a 2m04.055 to make it a Ferrari 1-2-3 in FP1.
The no60 Proton Competition Porsche was fourth quickest with a best lap of 2m04.371 by Alessio Picariello ahead of the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari of James Calado by 0.041s.
The second Free Practice session for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet will take place at 10h10 CEST on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying at 14h20.
CLICK HERE for the result from FP1.
