Beche Tops Free Practice 1 at Estoril

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Thiriet by TDS Racing’s Mathias Beche has topped the time charts in Free Practice 1 for Sunday’s European Le Mans Series season-ending Four Hours of Estoril.

Beche reeled off a best time of 1:31.637 in his No. 46 Oreca 05 Nissan, outpacing out the No. 40 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2 Nissan of Olivier Pla by 0.668 seconds.

The sister No. 41 Greaves Motorsport Ligier Nissan was third quickest in the hands of Nathanel Berton.

The No. 18 M.Racing – YMR Ligier JS P3 Nissan of Yann Ehrlacher led the way in LMP3, just edging out Sean Rayhall’s No. 10 Graff Racing entry by 0.049 seconds.

GTE was paced by the No. 77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR of Wolf Henzler, thanks to the Porsche factory driver’s 1:40.165 lap.

The session saw three incidents, two Full Course Yellows and a session-ending red flag, following an accident for the No. 17 Ultimate Ligier with less than 20 minutes to go.

A second 90-minute Free Practice session is on tap for Saturday morning, followed by qualifying in the afternoon.

RESULTS: Free Practice 1

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John