Porsche topped the timing sheets in both free practice sessions for Sunday’s 6 Hours of the Nürburgring, with the #2 car of Earl Bamber posting the quickest time of the day – a 1:38.663.
Following on from the team’s success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Hartley, Bamber and Bernhard secured Porsche’s 19th Le Mans victory, the German marque will be looking to cement its advantage in the world championship as the FIA WEC moves on to the final European round of the season before visiting Mexico, the US, Japan, China and Bahrain in the autumn.
Toyota finished Friday’s free practice in third with a fastest lap time of 1:39.773 while the #4 ByKolles Racing Team was 6.792 seconds further back in tenth.
In LMP2, G-Drive Racing posted the quickest time in free practice, followed by the Vaillaint Rebellion #13 and Signatech Alpine #36.
Balance of performance adjustments have mixed up the field somewhat in LMGTE-Pro, with Le Mans winners Aston Martin Racing being given a weight break of 20kg against the rest of the field. The 6 Hours of the Nürburgring marks the first time the FIA’s new “automatic BoP” method has been applied.
The Porsche #91 of Frédéric Makowiecki was the quickest LMGTE-Pro car of the day, quickly followed by the #95 Aston Martin of Nicki Thiim and the #51 AF Corse Ferrari. GTE Am honours went to the Spirit of Race Ferrari #54.
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