Tincknell Leads Friday COTA Practice in Aston Class Sweep

Photo: Nick Dungan/Drew Gibson Photography

Harry Tincknell set the quickest time on Friday following a pair of Free Practice sessions for Sunday’s 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas that saw Heart of Racing Team Aston Martins go quickest in both classes.

Tincknell took the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie to a chart-topping 1:52.567 in Friday afternoon’s Free Practice 2 for the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season.

His time as 0.122 seconds quicker than the second-placed No. 36 Alpine A424 of Charles Milesi.

Mathys Jaubert was third quickest in the No. 17 Genesis GMR-001 after bouncing back from an off-course excursion at the start of the session that resulted in a brief red flag.

Victor Martins made it two Alpines in the top-four, while Robert Kubica was the quickest of the Ferrari 499Ps in fifth, after Antonio Giovinazzi led the way in Free Practice 1.

The top 14 Hypercars in FP2 were quicker than Giovinazzi’s pace-setting 1:53.824 lap from the first session.

The pair of factory 499Ps were sixth and seventh, followed by the No. 009 Aston Martin and pair of Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s, which showed improved form after being at the bottom of the time charts in FP1.

The No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R, meanwhile, was 11th quickest, ahead of the best of the Toyota TS010 Hybrids, the No. 8 entry in 12th.

Heart of Racing also topped the LMGT3 class, thanks to a 2:05.609 lap time by Zach Robichon in the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo late in the 90-minute session.

It bumped the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Rui Andrade to second and the sister No. 79 entry of Lin Hodenius to third in class.

In addition to the early red, the session saw a brief Full Course Yellow for debris in Turn 6.

Free Practice 3 is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. CST.

RESULTS: Free Practice 2

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