The first Free Practice session ahead of Sunday’s 4 Hours of Barcelona is complete, and the no37 Cool Racing Oreca has posted the fastest lap. The young Dane, Malthe Jakobsen, set a 1m29.811 lap, the only driver to go below the 1 minute 30 second barrier.
Cool Racing dominates LMP2 Pro/Am
The no37 Oreca was also the top LMP2 Pro/Am competitor, finishing 0.244s ahead of James Allen in the no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca, the top LMP2 entry. The second Cool Racing LMP2 entry finished third fastest with a 1m30.464, and the no43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca in fourth place with a 1m30.472.
It was an impressive showing for the Cool Racing team, with two out of the top three spots in the LMP2 Pro/Am category. James Allen’s Algarve Pro Racing Oreca was the only non-Cool Racing car to break into the top three.
With such a strong showing in the first Free Practice session, Cool Racing will be feeling confident heading into the 4 Hours of Barcelona.
LMP3 and LMGTE categories
In the LMP3 category, the no8 Team Virage Ligier was the fastest, with Manuel Espirito Santo posting a 1m35.509 lap. The no17 Cool Racing Ligier of Marcos Siebert finished second, 0.351s behind Santo, with the no31 Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier in third spot, 0.615s behind.
Meanwhile, the no60 Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR-19 was the quickest of the 12 LMGTE entries, with Matteo Cairoli setting a 1m40.306 lap. The no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE EVO finished second, just 0.089s behind Cairoli, with the no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari in third, 0.265s behind.
The second Free Practice session is set to take place later today, and it will be interesting to see if Cool Racing can maintain their dominance in the LMP2 Pro/Am category.
CLICK HERE for the result from Free Practice 1.
