Porsche leads opening WEC Prologue test session

Jani went fastest for the German manufacturer on a 1m32.068s set on his second flying lap two thirds of the way through the three-hour session.

The Swiss driver bettered the 1m32.274s with which new teammate Nick Tandy held the top spot in the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid.

Jani’s lap left him a tenth and half up on the best Toyota time, a 1m32.226s set by Anthony Davidson late in the session aboard the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid.

Mike Conway took third spot in the second Toyota on a 1m32.491s, while Brendon Hartley was fourth fastest in the #2 Porsche with a 1m32.616s.

Porsche and Toyota are running their respective 2017 LMP1 contenders in the low-downforce trim that they will race at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June. 

The German ByKolles privateer P1 team didn’t set a time with its latest ENSO CLM P1/01, now powered by a Nissan twin-turbo V6 instead of the AER engine raced in 2014-16.

Bruno Senna was quickest in LMP2 for the Anglo-Swiss Rebellion squad.

The Brazilian set a 1m36.094s early in the session aboard the #31 Oreca 07-Gibson to top the class by seven tenths from teammate Mathias Beche in the sister #13 Rebellion entry. 

Beche’s 1m36.736s narrowly gave him second spot ahead of the G-Drive Oreca in which Roman Rusinov had earlier posted a 1m36.883s.

Mid-engined Porsche leads GTE

Porsche was also fastest in GTE Pro with a 1m47.379s from Michael Christensen in the #92 911 RSR. 

That put him less than two tenths up on Andy Priaulx in the best of the Ganassi-run Ford GTs. 

Stefan Mucke was a further two seconds back in the second Ford, while Davide Rigon was the fastest Ferrari driver in fifth position.

Ben Barker led the way in GTE Am in the Gulf Racing Porsche after a late lap that bettered Matteo Cairoli’s fastest time in the similar Dempsey-Proton car by just over a tenth.