Duval Leads Peugeot 1-2 in Opening Fuji Practice

Loic Duval led a Peugeot 1-2 in the opening Free Practice session for the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Fuji.

The Frenchman laid down an early benchmark of 1:30.152 aboard the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8, which put him 0.458 seconds clear of the sister machine in the hands of Jean-Eric Vergne.

Behind the two Peugeots, the pair of Aston Martin Valkyries slotted into third and fourth as Marco Sorensen was 0.134 seconds faster than Harry Tincknell.

Julien Andlauer rounded out the top five aboard the No. 5 Porsche 963, followed by the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid driven by Sebastien Buemi and Alpine drivers Ferdinand Habsburg and Jules Gounon.

Ferrari narrowly squeezed into the top ten with two of its cars as the No. 83 499P of Robert Kubica picked up ninth, while the championship-leading No. 51 car took tenth with Antonio Giovinazzi at the wheel.

The top five in LMGT3 comprised five different brands, led by Ben Barnicoat’s No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3.

The British racer reeled off a 1:41.257, which was 0.033 seconds quicker than the No. 81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R piloted by Charlie Eastwood.

Sean Gelael was third in the No. 95 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo ahead of the Davide Rigon-driven No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 and Kelvin van der Linde aboard the No. 46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

The session ran largely interrupted, except for a Full Course Yellow for debris removal with some 20 minutes remaining.

The second Free Practice session at Fuji is scheduled for 2:30 p.m local time. (1:30 a.m. EST).

RESULTS: Free Practice 1