The first Free Practice session ahead of the 4 Hours of Barcelona, round 4 of the 2022 European Le Mans Series, was dominated by IDEC Sport, who topped the timing screens. The 90-minute session was not without its challenges, with one Full Course Yellow and two red flags interrupting the session. Despite this, IDEC Sport managed to maintain their position at the top, with Paul Loup Chatin setting a 1m35.757 lap of the 4.675km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, just 0.1 seconds ahead of the no19 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca of Bent Viscaal.
LMP2 Class
The no28 IDEC Sport Oreca set the early pace and continued to hold the top spot for most of the session. Before the issue that caused the no88 AF Corse Oreca to stop on track, it was running in third place overall and at the head of the LMP2 Pro-Am runners, with Alessio Rovera setting a 1m35.887. The LMP2 class promises to be highly competitive, with several teams showing strong pace in the opening session.
However, the session was not without its challenges, with two red flags interrupting the session. The first red flag was shown when the no43 Inter Europol Competition went off at Turn 9. The car was recovered and continued in the session. The second happened with just six minutes left on the clock when the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier went off at T4 and the session was not resumed.
The second Free Practice session of the 4 Hours of Barcelona weekend will take place at 11h10 tomorrow morning, which will be followed by qualifying at 15h45 in the afternoon.
LMGTE Class
The LMGTE class was led by the no69 Oman Racing with TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage after Marco Sorensen posted a 1m45.744 lap. The no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 of Frederik Schandorff was just 0.011s behind in second place, with the no18 Absolute Racing Porsche of Alessio Picariello 0.191s further back in third place. The LMGTE class looks set to be highly competitive, with several teams showing strong pace in the opening session.
The no88 AF Corse Oreca that caused one of the red flags was running in third place overall and at the head of the LMP2 Pro-Am runners before the issue that caused it to stop on track. However, despite this setback, the team will be looking to bounce back in the second Free Practice session and the upcoming qualifying session.
CLICK HERE for the result from Free Practice 1.
