Lopez fastest for Toyota in FP2 at Silverstone
Jose Maria Lopez recorded the fastest time in second practice ahead of the World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Silverstone, propelling the #7 Toyota to top spot once again.
After Mike Conway set the benchmark pace in the #7 TS050 HYBRID in FP1, Lopez picked up where his team-mate had left off and posted the session-best 1m38.536s with his first lap in FP2.
Lopez’s best was 1.357s faster than the that of his team-mate’s in the #8 Toyota. Again posting the car’s fastest time of the session on the first run, Kazuki Nakajima’s 1m39.893s did at least ensure another Toyota one-two.
The #17 SMP Racing entry was the fastest of the privateer LMP1 entries, albeit sending FP2 into a period of full course yellow mid-way through the 90-minute session after the BR1 ground to a halt on track.
The car recovered to the pits and Stephane Sarrazin later returned it to the track, but the team lost around 20 minutes of track time as it resolved the issue.
Gustavo Menezes once again set the pace in the #3 Rebellion Racing R-13. He vaulted the #3 car into fourth on the timesheet in the closing stages, demoting the second SMP entry – the #11 BR1 – to fifth place.
The second Rebellion Racing entry was one of two LMP1’s to not participate in the session.
The team was unable to repair the car in time for FP2 following Bruno Senna’s ankle-breaking accident at Copse during first practice. The team will, however, have the car prepared in time for tomorrow’s sessions.
Breaking down at the end of FP1, the #4 ByKolles team also failed to make an appearance in FP2.
Despite topping the LMP2 timesheet in opening practice, the #28 TDS Racing entry could only manage third in class during FP2.
The #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing squad was instead the fastest team in second practice, beating the Le Mans 24 Hours winning #36 Signatech Alpine team by 0.5s.
In GTE Pro, Chip Ganassi Racing Ford once again occupied the top of the class timesheet. The #67 car was fastest, while team-mates in the #66 had to settle for third after being edged by the #97 Aston Martin Racing entry.
The #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing team continued to dominate in GTE Am, leading the class times.