Sebastien Buemi led a Toyota 1-2 in Free Practice 2 for FIA WEC 6 Hours of Sao Paulo at Interlagos after setting the fastest lap in the team’s No. 8 GR010 Hybrid.
Toyota Gazoo Racing secured the top two spots on the timesheets in Free Practice 2 for this weekend’s FIA WEC 6 Hours of Sao Paulo as Sebastien Buemi’s No. 8 GR010 Hybrid topped the session which was extended to two hours and 15 minutes to make up for the time lost to barrier repairs in Free Practice 1.
Free Practice 2 took place in completely dry conditions unlike FP1 which was a relief to teams as they continue adjusting to the challenging, complex Brazilian circuit.
Buemi posted the fastest lap of the day with a 1:25.727 with Kamui Kobayashi’s rather late improvement making it A Toyota 1-2 as the Japanese driver recorded 1:25.760 in the No. 7 car.
The battle was extremely close at the top in Hypercar as the No. 51 Ferrari 499P driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi finished third with a time just 0.010 seconds slower than Kobayashi after making a similar move up the order.
The second of the freshly tweaked Ferraris came in fourth in the hands of Antonio Fuoco, as the No. 50 car finished only seven thousandths of a second behind Pier Guidi. The solo Cadillac V-Series.R rounded out the top five with an impressive 1:25.869 thanks to Alex Lynn’s surge of improvements shortly after the hour-mark.
The two Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963s followed, with Callum Ilott’s No. 12 car finishing sixth and Jenson Button’s No. 38 car setting the seventh fastest time. The #38 had a far more productive run in the second session after a technical issue saw the entry complete only seven laps in FP1.
The top ten was rounded out by Robert Shwartzman in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari, Julien Andlauer in the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche, and Robin Frijns aboard the No. 20 BMW M Hybrid V8.
Jean-Eric Vergne marked the top Peugeot 9X8 in 11th place aboard the No. 93 as Charles Milesi took 12th for Alpine with a time just over a second down on Buemi’s best for Toyota.
Porsche Penske Motorsport’s two entries were only 13th and 14th fastest marking a dismal session for the championship leaders. Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 car posted the fastest time for the works Porsche team, edging Michael Christensen in the sister No. 5 machine by a mere 1.274 seconds.
Alpine’s No. 36 car looked to have encountered engine-related issues that kept it in the garage for the better part of the session although it completed a field-low 41 laps en-route to 17th place.
Jose Maria Lopez took the lead in LMGT3 aboard the only surviving Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 after the team withdrew their No. 78 car following Arnold Robin’s FP1 crash.
Lopez topped the field with a time of 1:35.725, beating Frank Perera’s No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 by 0.325 seconds while the No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari took third with a 1:36.201.
The No. 82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R was fourth fastest in the hands of Daniel Juncadella who had set the best time early on. Ian James put the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in fifth place.
