Highlights from the morning session of the Le Mans Test Day

Porsche heads the field with a 1-2 in LMP1, the fastest lap being a 3:22.334 set by Marc Lieb in the No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid. The German heads the No.1 by just over two tenths of a second, Mark Webber having set a best lap of 3:22.555 in the No.1 entry.The two Audi R18s have also dipped under the 3m22 mark this morning, close behind the Porsches, with Toyota Gazoo Racing’s TS050 HYBRIDS slightly further back but working through a comprehensive test programme.

LMP1 Private team Rebellion Racing concluded the first session with a 1-2, the No.13 car of Matheo Tuscher, Alexandre Imperatori and Dominik Kraihamer on 3:27.062, edging the No.12 by just 0.055s, the time set by Imperatori!In the closely fought LMP2 class, Signatech Alpine’s No.36 Alpine 460 topped the time sheets with a lap of 3:37.397 in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre. Closely behind are Manor debutants Manor Racing, Roberto Merhi delighting in his first laps of the track, and G-Drive Racing.

The FIA WEC’s LMGTE Pro runners had a somewhat troubled morning, and the quickest of them ended up being the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari of Bruni-Calado-Pier Guidi with a lap of 3:56.581, 5th in class. The Porsche Motorsport 911 RSR of Makowiecki-Bamber-Bergmeister was at the top of the class with a lap of 3:55.691, the only GTE car to go below 3m57 this morning. Seven tenths of a second separate 10 cars in LM GTE Pro which proves how close this class is going to be.

Ferrari headed the LMGTE Am category but the first of the FIA WEC cars was the No.98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Dalla Lana-Lamy-Lauda with a fastest lap of 3:59.337, just four hundredths of a second in front of the No.78 KCMG Porsche 911.There was just one red flag stoppage this morning, to retrieve a stranded No.83 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia, but several cars had lengthy stops in the pits including the No.97 Aston Martin Racing entry for an engine change. There was a light sprinkling of rain just after one hour of running, but more wet weather is expected this afternoon.

The second four hours of practice starts at 14h00.