Silverstone WEC: Toyota leads disrupted first practice


Toyota driver Mike Conway set the fastest time in first practice for this weekend's Silverstone FIA World Endurance Championship round in a session disrupted by two red flags.
Conway's best time of 1m39.916s in the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid came shortly after the first red flag period, caused by Bruno Senna suffering a heavy crash at Copse in the #1 Rebellion R-13.
Senna reportedly was able to get out of the car unaided but was taken for the medical centre for checks.
After a half-hour delay, the session resumed - with 15 minutes being added to make up for the lost running - but a second stoppage was caused when the ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01 dumped oil on track at The Loop.
Sebastien Buemi set the best time in the Le Mans 24 Hours-winning #8 Toyota he shares with Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima, a 1m40.191s, in the early part of the session to make it a one-two for the Japanese marque.
Best of the LMP1 privateers was the #3 Rebellion, with Gustavo Menezes posting that car's best effort, 1.027s adrift of Conway, while the stricken #1 car set the fourth-best time, 3.2s off the pace, with Senna shortly before its accident.
Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button was quickest of the SMP Racing drivers, setting a 1m40.176s in the #11 BR Engineering BR1 which is running in high-downforce spec for the first time this season.
Egor Orudzhev was sixth in the #17 BR1 ahead of Ben Hanley in the #10 DragonSpeed BR1 and Oliver Webb in the #4 ENSO CLM before its problems.
LMP2 was led by Audi DTM star Loic Duval, who set a 1m46.122s in the #28 TDS Racing Oreca to go seven tenths clear of the opposition, led by GP3 racer Gabriel Aubry in the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing car.
Third in class was the points-leading #36 Signatech Alpine, with Andre Negrao at the wheel.
Ford's pair of Chip Ganassi-run GTs led the way in GTE Pro, with Olivier Pla setting the best time in class - a 1m57.166s - shortly after the first red flag to put the #66 car ahead of Andy Priaulx's #67 machine by 0.671s.
Third was the quicker of the two Porsches, the #91 machine of Gianmaria Bruni, followed by the best of the Ferrari 488 GTEs, the #51 car.
Aston Martin's two Vantage GTEs, which were handed a Balance of Performance boost in the run-up to Silverstone, were sixth and seventh-fastest, while the two MTEK-run BMW M8 GTEs brought up the rear in ninth and 10th.
Porsche held sway in GTE Am with Matteo Cairoli setting the best lap of 1m59.418s in the #88 Dempsey-Proton car.
First practice results:
Pos. | # | Drivers | Car | Class | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | Toyota TS050 Hybrid | LMP1 | 1'39.916 | ||
2 | 8 | Toyota TS050 Hybrid | LMP1 | 1'40.191 | 0.275 | |
3 | 3 | Rebellion R13 | LMP1 | 1'40.943 | 1.027 | |
4 | 1 | Rebellion R13 | LMP1 | 1'43.155 | 3.239 | |
5 | 11 | BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 1'43.176 | 3.260 | |
6 | 17 | BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 1'43.957 | 4.041 | |
7 | 10 | BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 1'44.533 | 4.617 | |
8 | 4 | ENSO CLM P1/01 | LMP1 | 1'44.770 | 4.854 | |
9 | 28 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 1'46.122 | 6.206 | |
10 | 38 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 1'46.855 | 6.939 | |
11 | 36 | Alpine A470 | LMP2 | 1'47.082 | 7.166 | |
12 | 37 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 1'47.385 | 7.469 | |
13 | 31 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 1'47.760 | 7.844 | |
14 | 29 | Dallara P217 | LMP2 | 1'48.650 | 8.734 | |
15 | 50 | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 1'50.929 | 11.013 | |
16 | 66 | Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 1'56.852 | 16.936 | |
17 | 67 | Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 1'57.523 | 17.607 | |
18 | 91 | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 1'58.212 | 18.296 | |
19 | 51 | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 1'58.483 | 18.567 | |
20 | 92 | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 1'58.748 | 18.832 | |
21 | 97 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE PRO | 1'58.770 | 18.854 | |
22 | 95 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE PRO | 1'58.836 | 18.920 | |
23 | 71 | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 1'58.927 | 19.011 | |
24 | 82 | BMW M8 GTE | LMGTE PRO | 1'59.122 | 19.206 | |
25 | 88 | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 1'59.418 | 19.502 | |
26 | 77 | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 1'59.623 | 19.707 | |
27 | 86 | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 1'59.676 | 19.760 | |
28 | 90 | Aston Martin Vantage | LMGTE AM | 1'59.693 | 19.777 | |
29 | 81 | BMW M8 GTE | LMGTE PRO | 1'59.754 | 19.838 | |
30 | 61 | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 2'00.180 | 20.264 | |
31 | 54 | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 2'00.704 | 20.788 | |
32 | 70 | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 2'01.042 | 21.126 | |
33 | 98 | Aston Martin Vantage | LMGTE AM | 2'01.067 | 21.151 | |
34 | 56 | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 2'01.549 | 21.633 |

Previous article
Bahrain returns on 2019/20 WEC schedule
Next article
Senna out of Silverstone race with broken ankle

About this article
Series | WEC |
Drivers | Mike Conway |
Teams | Toyota Racing |
Author | Jamie Klein |