Toyota Gazoo Racing secured the top two positions on the timing board for the final practice of the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, as expected after the second practice session.
The LMP2s were still competing alongside the other Hypercars, but Toyota had vanished into a separate category.
The two Toyotas were separated from the rest of the field by a second, but Kamui Kobayashi beat Brendon Hartley with a 2:03.225. Both of them broke into the 2m03s lap times for the first time this weekend, and they are the only two to do so.
Hartley was two-tenths off the pace, but eight-tenths ahead of Prema ORLEN Team in third. The fourth-placed Alpine Elf Matmut, 1.5 seconds behind the Toyota pair, was the next closest Hypercar. The top five was rounded out by a resurgent WRT from free practice two, which was only three-thousandths of a second slower than the Alpine.
Pipo Derani, driving the #708 Glickenhaus Racing, spun into the gravel trap at Stavelot, resulting in the only full course yellow of the session. He had to be lifted off the track and returned to the pits, costing the team time in the final 60 minutes of practice.
The Glickenhaus, on the other hand, seems to have suffered little if any damage, as it was shortly back out on track after returning to the pits. It could only finish 15th overall, 2.3 seconds below Kobayashi’s time.
Prema held a half-second advantage over the nearest LMP2 car, while the battle for sixth place between WRT and United Autosports was less than a tenth.
On the other hand, Team Penske remained in contention for the top half of the LMP2 field, finishing seventh overall and fourth in class. They were beaten by the #38 JOTA, which was driven by Will Stevens.
The AF Corse crew was fastest in Pro/Am once again, finishing ninth in the overall standings ahead of the #10 Vector Sport, which is picking up speed after a slow start to the weekend.
In GTE Pro, Michael Christensen was the man to beat, piloting the sister vehicle to a one-two lockout at the front of the field. The #92 Porsche GT Team has won every practice session in class this weekend, making qualifying this afternoon a foregone conclusion.
The sister Porsche was roughly four-tenths behind the class leader, but in a close duel with the AF Corse Ferraris, confirming the trend that had emerged from the practice sessions.
The rest of the GTE Pro class was separated by less than two tenths of a second, including the single Corvette Racing car. Although the #92 is favoured to win the class pole, the rest of the category might easily be decided by chance.
In GTE Am, Porsche was strong once again, with Team Project 1 #46 leading Dempsey-Proton Racing #77 for a one-two finish.
The #33 TF Sport Aston Martin finished third, outperforming the Ferrari entrants. The #21 AF Corse, the fastest Ferrari-running Am, was sixth in class, 1.3 seconds behind the winner.
