Swiss team COOL Racing took the top spot in LMP2 and LMP2 Pro/Am in the opening Free Practice session of the weekend. The no47 Oreca topped the timing screens with Jose Maria Lopez setting a 1m43.030 lap, an almost identical time to the pole position lap (1m43.038) set by Mathias Beche in the 2022 4 Hours of Le Castellet.
The no37 COOL Racing Oreca was second fastest and the fastest Pro/Am entry, with a 1m43.936 lap set by Malthe Jakobsen, 0.906s behind his teammate.The third and fourth placed cars were also a mixture of LMP2 and LMP2 Pro/Am with Job Van Uitert posting the third fastest time of 1m44.004 in the no65 Panis Racing Oreca, two tenths ahead of Matthieu Vaxiviere in the no83 AF Corse Oreca, the second fastest of the 11 Pro/Am entries.
LMP3 was headed by the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier, with Kai Askey setting the best lap of 1m50.542 in the 90-minute session, 0.103s ahead of the championship leading no17 COOL Racing Ligier, with Marcos Siebert posting a 1m50.645.The third fastest LMP3 entry was the no31 Racing Spirit or Leman Ligier with a 1m50.749, 0.207s behind the leader.
The no44 GMB Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage was the fastest of the 12 LMGTE entries, with a lap of 1m54.804 set by Nicki Thiim.The no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari was second, with four-time winner at Le Castellet Matt Griffin setting a best time of 1m54.812, just 0.008s behind the Dane.
The no60 Iron Lynx Porsche was third quickest with a 1m54.831 set by former LMGTE Champion Matteo Cressoni, making it three manufacturers in the top three at the end of the session, all split by just 0.027s.
CLICK HERE for the result from Free Practice 1.
The next Free Practice session will take place at 10h10 on Saturday morning.
