Toyota took the honours as the teams geared up for the highlight of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship at Le Mans Test Day. United Autosports, Corvette Racing and Kessel Racing headed up the other classes.
Toyota take Test Day honours
Toyota Gazoo Racing went quickest at the Test Day ahead of the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans with a fastest lap time of 3:29.896 by Argentine Jos茅 Mar铆a L贸pez in the #7 GR010 Hybrid.
Second quickest across the two sessions was the #708 Glickenhaus of Pla/Dumas/Derani, with the sister #8 Toyota rounding out the top three placings in Hypercar.
The first four-hour session in damp, overcast conditions, with the weather improving as the day progressed. L贸pez鈥檚 flyer came with just over an hour of the afternoon session remaining. The Argentine was the only driver to dip under the 3:30s all day.
Frenchman Romain Dumas had set the benchmark just after lunch with a 3:30.104 for Glickenhaus Racing. However, with adjustments to performance parameters possible before the race week begins in earnest, Hypercar contenders were likely keeping their cards close to their chest.
United Autosports edge JOTA in LMP2
With no balance of performance trickery to worry about, the 27-car LMP2 field was fully focused on nailing down their set-ups ahead of the longest race of the season. Top of the timesheets was the #22 United Autosports USA crew of Hanson/Albquerque/Owen with a fastest time of 3:32.099.
Second-fastest was the #38 JOTA crew of Gonzalez/Da Costa/Stevens three tenths further back, with the second United Autosports entry (#23 featuring Josh Pierson, who is on course to become the youngest ever starter at the 24 Hours of Le Mans) in third. Championship leaders WRT were sixth fastest.
Corvette Racing ahead by a whisker in GTE Pro
The GTE Pro runners were as closely matched as ever at Le Mans Test Day, with just half a second separating all of the seven entries. The fastest time of the day of 3:54.001 was posted by Alexander Sims in the #64 Corvette C8.R.
Only three one-hundredths further back was Davide Rigon in the #52 AF Corse Ferrari, followed by Fred Makowiecki in the #91 Porsche, making it three manufacturers in the top three places.
Kessel Racing on top in GTE Am
Kessel Racing posted the two fastest times of the day in the GTE Am category, with Mikkel Jensen鈥檚 3:54.827 good enough to top the time sheets. JMW Motorsport and Spirit of Race made it an all-Ferrari top three in class with the second- and third-fastest times respectively.
The 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans continues with Free Practice 1 on Wednesday afternoon, followed by Qualifying at 7pm local time.
Click here for a run-down of the session times or visit our race page.