Jakobsen Quickest in Barcelona Opening Practice

Malthe Jakobsen set the fastest time in the first Free Practice session ahead of the European Le Mans Series season opener in Barcelona.

The Danish racer posted a best lap of 1:29.811 aboard the No. 37 Cool Racing Oreca 07 Gibson, which he shares with Alexandre Coigny and Nicolas Lapierre.

Jakobsen was the only driver in the 90-minute session to dip below the 1:30 mark, also leading the Pro-Am category for teams with a Bronze-rated driver in the process.

James Allen came second behind the wheel of the No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca, 0.244 seconds behind Jakobsen but still ahead of the second Cool-entered Oreca in the hands of Reshad de Gerus.

Jonathan Aberdein set the fourth fastest time for Inter Europol Competition, with the No. 30 Duqueine Team Oreca of Neel Jani completing the top five.

Job van Uitert and Sebastian Montoya made up positions six and seven, respectively.

Algarve Pro’s No. 20 Pro-Am entered car spearheaded by Tristan Vautier recorded the eighth-fastest time, with the overall top ten rounded out by IDEC Sport and Team Virage.

Manuel Espirito Santo led the way in LMP3. The Portuguese driver reeled off a 1:35.509 aboard the No. 8 Team Virage Ligier JS P320 Nissan to outpace Cool Racing’s Marcos Siebert by 0.351 seconds.

Iron Lynx was quickest in GTE courtesy of a flyer by Matteo Cairoli, who posted a 1:40.306 aboard the No. 60 Porsche 911 RSR-19 to lead the class.

Cairoli’s effort improved upon the previous best lap, set by Kessel Racing’s Frederik Schandorff, by 0.089 seconds.

Matt Griffin completed the top three for Spirit of Race, ahead of three Proton Competition entries driven Alessio Picariello, Richard Lietz and Julien Andlauer, respectively.

Track action for the 4 Hours of Barcelona resumes with Free Practice 2, which takes place Saturday at 10:10 a.m. local time (4:10 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Free Practice 1