The #8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID of Davidson/Nakajima/Lapierre waited until the final afternoon to put in the fastest lap time of the weekend at the 2017 FIA WEC Prologue. The time was recorded by Nicolas Lapierre on his big comeback to the Japanese outfit. The Frenchman was the only driver to dip under the 1:31 barrier in a time of 1:30.547. The second Toyota of Kobayashi/Kunimoto/Conway was 0.9 seconds behind whereas the two Porsche 919 Hybrids were third and fourth, but more than a second adrift. Obviously, it is far too early to make any predictions for the upcoming season based on this showing especially as there had been little to choose between the two main protagonists until Lapierre’s fastest lap. Silverstone in less than two weeks’ time should be more telling. The picture is even less clear regarding the sole private LM P1 prototype as the Nissan-powered CLM P1/01 only covered six laps. The clock is ticking for the ByKolles Racing team.

In the final Prologue session, Jackie Chan DC Racing’s Ho-Pin Tung was quickest in the LM P2 class at the wheel of the #38 ORECA 07, the Chinese driver getting the better of Nelson Panciatici (Alpine/Signatech) and Vitaly Petrov (ORECA 07/Manor). Over the two days, however, the fastest time was set by Matthieu Vaxivière, a newcomer to the discipline, in TDS Racing’s ORECA 07. The young Frenchman put in an eye-catching performance in eclipsing Bruno Senna (ORECA 07/Vaillante Rebellion) by 0.016 seconds. With no fewer than 14 LM P2s lapping within one second of each other, a hotly-disputed battle is undoubtedly in store in this class.

The works Porsche appears to have gained the upper hand in GTE Pro. Although Harry Tincknell’s Ford GT was quickest in the afternoon session, the mark of 1:47.379 set by Michael Christensen’s 911 RSR remained unbeaten over the two days. There appears to be cause for concern for Aston Martin, however, with its cars lagging some way behind.

Porsche did not enjoy the same domination in GTE Am as Gulf Racing UK and Dempsey Proton Racing saw their 911 RSRs put in the shade by Spirit of Race’s Ferrari 488 GTE in the capable hands of Miguel Molina.

All eyes now turn towards Silverstone where the opening round of the 2017 FIA WEC season will take place on Easter weekend (15-16 April).

Photo: Vision Sport Agency/ACO