Masson Sets the Pace in Tight Opening Portimao Practice

The two cars in European Le Mans Series title contention set the pace in first practice for this weekend’s 4 Hours of Portimao season finale, with reigning champion Esteban Masson fractionally fastest.

Masson clocked a 1:32.646 aboard the No. 29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca 07 Gibson to pip Gregoire Saucy in the No. 22 United Autosports entry by 0.085 seconds in a reversal of the two squads’ championship positions.

But it was not a straightforward session for the United Autosports crew as Ben Hanley later had a tangle with the No. 75 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Matt Kurzejewski, one of two incidents involving the American that will be investigated after the session.

Third fastest was Alex Lynn upon his return to action following treatment for a long-standing neck injury aboard the No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing machine, having posted a 1:32.735.

That was two thousandths faster than Malthe Jakobsen managed in the sister Pro-Am No. 20 car.

The top-six was then rounded out by Job van Uitert in the No. 28 IDEC Sport machine and the No. 3 DKR Engineering Oreca in the hands of Tristan Vautier, who was making his first appearance of the season for the team.

Louis Iglesias set the LMP3 pace in the No. 17 CLX Motorsport Ligier JS P325 in which teammates Paul Lanchere and Alexander Jacoby head the class standings.

Iglesias posted a 1:39.197 to finish up over six-tenths ahead of the opposition, his nearest challenger being the No. 5 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen.

Third quickest was Henry Cubides Olarte in the No. 13 Inter Europol Ligier, while the No. 85 R-ace GP Duqueine D09 Toyota that is second in the points was only seventh after causing a brief Full-Course Yellow when it stopped on track at Turn 4, before later returning to the fray.

The No. 57 Kessel Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo topped the LMGT3 leaderboard for much of the session thanks to an early 1:42.737 effort from Daniel Serra.

He ended up a tenth quicker than Wayne Boyd aboard the No. 23 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, while Sergio Sette Camara in the No. 63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo was third.

It was a less encouraging session for the sister No. 62 machine in which Julian Hanses and Abdulla Al-Khelaifi lead the championship as this finished bottom of the timesheets.

Alongside the FCY to retrieve the Duqueine, there was also a brief red flag with just under 30 minutes left following an incident for the No. 99 AO by TF Oreca of PJ Hyett at Turn 12.

While there will be a collective test for FIA Bronze-rated drivers this afternoon, the next time the whole field will be in action is due to be in FP2 at 10:15 a.m. WEST (5:15 a.m. EST) on Friday.

RESULTS: Free Practice 1