Rebellion stays quick in fourth Le Mans practice, P2 entries rebound from crashes
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Stephen Kilbey | 12 hours ago
Rebellion Racing set the quickest time in Friday morning’s Free Practice 4 session with its No. 1 R-13 ahead of the Hyperpole Qualifying shootout. The best lap from the No. 1 was a 3m21.132s from American Gustavo Menezes, a lap which, weather permitting, is unlikely to be anywhere near quick enough to take pole for tomorrow’s race.
Second in the times was the No. 7 Toyota with a 3m21.630s, ahead of the second Rebellion — the No. 3 — that took third.
In LMP2, United Autosports continued to look strong. The No. 22 posted the fastest time courtesy of Paul di Resta, a 3m27.185s. G-Drive Racing’s No. 26 Aurus took second with a 3m28.586s.
The first of the Goodyear runners — the JOTA ORECA — ended up third, 2.4 seconds off the best time.
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Further down the order, it was a welcome sight to see both IDEC Sport ORECAs, after their huge offs yesterday, making it out for some laps. In terms of the drivers, Paul Lafargue is fine and back driving. But Dwight Merriman will take no further part after being declared unfit to race by the FIA Medical Delegate. Instead, Porsche factory driver Patrick Pilet has been drafted in and will take his place in the No. 17 alongside Kyle Tilley and Jonathan Kennard.
IDEC Sport’s crew had a long night of repairs and rebuilds, the No. 28 car being rebuilt around a replacement tub and the No. 17 requiring a major repair and rebuild after the FP2 incidents for both cars.
One car that didn’t make it out was the Red River Sport Ferrari, following Bon Grimes’ shunt last night. Grimes was OK this morning and will continue to drive this weekend. The team is currently still repairing the front-end damage, and is targeting the warm up session tomorrow morning for its return to the track.
Meanwhile, in the GTE times, Porsche topped Pro with the No. 92 reeling off a 3m51.985s. Behind the two AF Corse Ferraris — with the No. 71 ahead of the No. 51 — took second and third.
In Am, Team Project 1’s No. 56 911 RSR set the best time, a 3m53.884s from Matteo Cairoli.
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