FIA #WEC – Dumas Fastest in FP1 at Monza

Glickenhaus Head FP1 at Monza as Porsche lead Ferrari in LMGTE Pro….  Romain Dumas set the pace at Monza as the track action for round four of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship kicked-off with FP1 this afternoon.

In hot and sunny conditions, the three-time Le Mans winner lapped 0.6s clear of the Alpine driven by Andre Negrao.

The session saw the first glimpse of the all-new Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar and it was a strong start for ‘The Lion’ marque as it placed third ahead of the two Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercars.

Porsche led LMGTE Pro with Kevin Estre leading Antonio Fuoco’s AF Corse Ferrari, while in LMP2 home hero Alessio Rovera paced the opposition.

LMGTE Am saw a 1-2-3 for Porsche as the two Team Project 1 entered cars sandwiched the GR Racing 911 RSR-19.

The Headlines from FP1 at Monza…..

Hypercar

· Romain Dumas laps quickest in first 90-minutes of practice at Monza for Glickenhaus

· Experienced French ace completes a lap of 1m37.984s in newly liveried Glickenhaus 007LMH which now features mostly blue colours

· Dumas’ best lap is 0.6s faster than Alpine Team ELF entry as Andre Negrao sets an early best 1m38.602 in Alpine A480-Gibson

· Peugeot TotalEnergies start their WEC adventure well as Paul di Resta places third in first ever public view of futuristic looking Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar

· Toyota Gazoo Racing are fourth and fifth as Le Mans winning team see the No.8 Toyota GR010-Hybrid Hypercar just lap faster than No.7 machine by 0.2s

· Kamui Kobayashi puts in a late 1m39.287s lap but is unable to vault the sister No.8 car

· No.94 Peugeot 9X8 driven by James Rossiter in session is confined to pits for most of the 90-minutes and places sixth in Hypercar

LMGTE Pro

· Kevin Estre sets the pace in LMGTE Pro as he looks to do the Monza double after 2021 success with then teammate Neel Jani

· Estre peaks on a 1m47.273s lap in No.92 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR-19

· But battle in class is set to be tight as AF Corse Ferrari place second with No.52 car driven by Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco are just 0.3s in arrears of the leading Porsche. Fuoco sets best time.

· Corvette Racing make it three manufacturers in top four positions as Nick Tandy sets fourth best time of 1m47.702s

· No.91 Porsche is fourth as Gimmi Bruni lays down a 1m47.745s lap. Bruni’s teammate this weekend is Frederic Makowiecki who is a late replacement for the ill Richard Lietz

 LMP2

· No.83 AF Corse tops the LMP2 times as home hero Alessio Rovera stops the clocks on a 1m39.973s lap in the early phase of the session in car he shares with Francois Perrodo and Nicklas Nielsen

· Norman Nato put the Realteam by WRT entry in to second place on a 1m40.22s lap on final tour of session

· Inter Europol Competition take third fastest lap of the 90-minute session with Esteban Gutierrez claiming a late lap of 1m40.356s

· Prema Orlen Team finish fourth as Robert Kubica sets a best time 1m40.468s for home favourites

· No.22 United Autosports USA machine places fifth as a 1m40.477 is achieved by one of last year’s LMP2 winning drivers Filipe Albuquerque

· Richard Mille Racing end sixth as Paul-Loup Chatin arrives at team to join Lilou Wadoux and Charles Milesi, with the latter setting their best lap of 1m40.613s

LMGTE Am

· Team Project 1 take top spot in LMGTE Am as Ben Barnicoat peaks on a 1m48.389s for the No.56 Porsche 911 RSR-19

· GR Racing second with Ben Barker’s early session time of 1m48.782

· No.46 Team Project 1 car is third as Matteo Cairoli’s 1m48.860s heads the No.71 Spirit of Race Ferrari and ensures a Porsche 1-2-3 in class