6 Hours of Sao Paulo – Free practice 2: Toyota and Ferrari neck and neck
After a very short first free practice session, the second session was much more studious. The two Toyotas and the two official Ferraris were separated by 49 milliseconds, while the Lexus No. 87 dominated the LMGT3 standings.
As soon as the light turned green, almost the entire WEC field came out to make up for lost time in the first session. The accident of the Lexus No. 78 had caused enough damage to lead to a long interruption.
Very quickly, the first reference times were as good as those set in the first session, which was interrupted for a long time by a red flag.
This second free practice session was supposed to be the opportunity to work extensively on the race pace, as the teams were scheduled for over two hours of track time. Mike Conway, setting the fastest lap time, set the initial benchmark at 1:26.587 behind the wheel of the Toyota No. 7.
In LMGT3, Corvette, with No. 82 from TF Sport, also started strong, signing a 1:36.203, in the hands of Japanese driver Hiroshi Koizumi. The two Toyotas took control of the top two positions during the first hour: Rio Hirakawa set the best time ahead of Mike Conway, with a 1:25.727.
BMW No. 20, with Robin Frinjs, has slipped into the top three, as well as Cadillac No. 2 of Alex Lynn, who set the second-fastest time with 1 hour 10 minutes to go (1:26.283). The rankings began to be disrupted at that moment.
Rio Hirakawa’s time on car N°8 was not beaten. However, the sister car, N°7, finished just behind with a delay of 33 milliseconds. The two official Ferraris, in order N°51 and N°50, followed closely behind, with barely over 40 milliseconds. Like a taste of a ruthless battle between the two manufacturers.
Porsche was a bit more in the background: the best of the 963 was the No. 12 from the Jota team, winner in Spa, ahead of the No. 38 of the same team. On the French side, the Peugeot No. 93 was the best of the French cars, in 11th place, ahead of the Alpine No. 35. The Peugeot No. 94 finished 15th and the Alpine No. 36 in 17th place.
On the LMGT3 side, the French team Akkodis can smile. At least, halfway. Because the N°78, severely damaged in free practice 1, will be forced to withdraw from the rest of the weekend. The N°87 set the fastest time in this second session. The Iron Dames, in the Lamborghini N°85, finished in 11th place.
The results table
| Team | # | Drivers | Times | Gap | Laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | #8 | Buemi S. Hartley B. Hirakawa R. | 1:25.727 | – | 83 |
| 2 | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | #7 | Conway M. Kobayashi K. de Vries N. | 1:25.760 | +0.033 | 77 |
| 3 | FERRARI AF CORSE | #51 | Pier Guidi A. Calado J. Giovinazzi A. | 1:25.770 | +0.043 | 70 |
| 4 | FERRARI AF CORSE | #50 | Fuoco A. Molina M. Nielsen N. | 1:25.776 | +0.049 | 66 |
| 5 | CADILLAC RACING | #2 | Bamber E. Lynn A. | 1:25.869 | +0.142 | 65 |
| 6 | HERTZ TEAM JOTA | #12 | Stevens W. ILOTT C. Nato N. | 1:25.931 | +0.204 | 75 |
| 7 | HERTZ TEAM JOTA | #38 | Button J. Hanson P. Rasmussen O. | 1:25.979 | +0.252 | 76 |
| 8 | AF CORSE | #83 | Kubica R. Shwartzman R. Ye Y. | 1:26.131 | +0.404 | 78 |
| 9 | PROTON COMPETITION | #99 | Jani N. Andlauer J. | 1:26.442 | +0.715 | 74 |
| 10 | BMW M TEAM WRT | #20 | Van Der Linde S. Frijns R. Rast R. | 1:26.693 | +0.966 | 71 |
| 11 | PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES | #93 | Jensen M. MÜLLER N. Vergne J. | 1:26.759 | +1.032 | 76 |
| 12 | ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM | #35 | Chatin P. Habsburg-Lothringen F. Milesi C. | 1:26.892 | +1.165 | 73 |
| 13 | PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT | #6 | Estre K. Lotterer A. Vanthoor L. | 1:27.001 | +1.274 | 77 |
| 14 | PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT | #5 | Campbell M. Christensen M. Makowiecki F. | 1:27.156 | +1.429 | 77 |
| 15 | PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES | #94 | Di Resta P. Duval L. Vandoorne S. | 1:27.165 | +1.438 | 78 |
| 16 | LAMBORGHINI IRON LYNX | #63 | Bortolotti M. Mortara E. Kvyat D. | 1:27.219 | +1.492 | 65 |
| 17 | ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM | #36 | Lapierre N. Schumacher M. Vaxiviere M. | 1:27.295 | +1.568 | 41 |
| 18 | ISOTTA FRASCHINI | #11 | Serravalle A. Bennett C. Vernay J. | 1:27.743 | +2.016 | 70 |
| 19 | BMW M TEAM WRT | #15 | Vanthoor D. Marciello R. Wittmann M. | 1:27.792 | +2.065 | 72 |
| 20 | AKKODIS ASP TEAM | #87 | Kimura T. Masson E. Lopez J. | 1:35.725 | +9.998 | 62 |
| 21 | IRON LYNX | #60 | Schiavoni C. Cressoni M. Perera F. | 1:36.050 | +10.323 | 65 |
| 22 | VISTA AF CORSE | #55 | Heriau F. Mann S. Rovera A. | 1:36.201 | +10.474 | 66 |
| 23 | TF SPORT | #82 | Koizumi H. Baud S. Juncadella D. | 1:36.203 | +10.476 | 71 |
| 24 | HEART OF RACING TEAM | #27 | James I. Mancinelli D. Riberas A. | 1:36.248 | +10.521 | 73 |
| 25 | UNITED AUTOSPORTS | #95 | Caygill J. Pino N. Sato M. | 1:36.409 | +10.682 | 68 |
| 26 | MANTHEY PURERXCING | #92 | Malykhin A. Sturm J. Bachler K. | 1:36.567 | +10.840 | 73 |
| 27 | PROTON COMPETITION | #77 | Hardwick R. Robichon Z. Barker B. | 1:36.655 | +10.928 | 66 |
| 28 | UNITED AUTOSPORTS | #59 | Cottingham J. Costa N. Saucy G. | 1:36.692 | +10.965 | 70 |
| 29 | PROTON COMPETITION | #88 | Ried C. Pedersen M. Olsen D. | 1:36.734 | +11.007 | 72 |
| 30 | IRON DAMES | #85 | Bovy S. Frey R. Gatting M. | 1:36.794 | +11.067 | 61 |
| 31 | VISTA AF CORSE | #54 | Flohr T. Castellacci F. Rigon D. | 1:36.829 | +11.102 | 63 |
| 32 | TEAM WRT | #31 | Leung D. GELAEL S. Farfus A. | 1:36.852 | +11.125 | 69 |
| 33 | TF SPORT | #81 | Van Rompuy T. Andrade R. Eastwood C. | 1:36.881 | +11.154 | 70 |
| 34 | MANTHEY EMA | #91 | Shahin Y. Schuring M. Lietz R. | 1:37.230 | +11.503 | 73 |
| 35 | TEAM WRT | #46 | Al Harthy A. Rossi V. Martin M. | 1:37.541 | +11.814 | 72 |
| 36 | D’STATION RACING | #777 | Mateu C. Bastard E. SØRENSEN M. | 1:37.735 | +12.008 | 70 |
| 37 | AKKODIS ASP TEAM | #78 | Robin A. SCHMID C. Van der Linde K. | + | 0 |
