Kubica Sets the Pace in Opening Barcelona Practice

Robert Kubica set the pace in the satellite AF Corse Ferrari in opening practice as the FIA World Endurance Championship made its first-ever appearance in Barcelona.

Kubica led the leaderboard, as teams and drivers got to grips with the Spanish track, having posted a 1:31.891 in the opening 20 minutes aboard the No. 83 Ferrari 499P to finish up a tenth of a second clear of the rest.

His nearest rival was Alex Riberas in the No. 009 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie, who was the only other driver to lap in the 1:31s.

Next quickest were the pair of factory Ferrari 499Ps, with Antonio Giovinazzi in the No. 51 machine going 0.013 seconds faster than Antonio Fuoco in the No. 50.

The second Aston Martin was fifth in the hands of Harry Tincknell, albeit nearly a second off Kubica’s pace, while the pick of the Toyota TR010 Hybrids — the No. 8 car of Sebastien Buemi — rounded out the top-six.

Sebastien Bourdais was fastest of the pair of Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.Rs in seventh, just ahead of the No. 36 Signatech-run Alpine A424 of Jules Gounon.

The second Cadillac of Norman Nato was ninth, while local driver Dani Juncadella was tenth fastest in the No. 19 Genesis GMR-001.

The only two brands without a presence in the top-ten were Peugeot and BMW, the best of the Peugeot 9X8s occupying 14th spot while the WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s brought up the rear of the leaderboard.

Ferrari also led the way in LMGT3 with Alessio Rovera setting the pace aboard the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

He finished up four-tenths quicker than the sister No. 54 machine of Davide Rigon, while Charlie Eastwood was third in the No. 34 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Marvin Kirchhoefer’s No. 10 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo and the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Maxime Martin ensured there were four different manufacturers represented inside the top-five.

The only interruption to the session was a Full-Course Yellow for a systems check with 30 minutes on the clock.

But it was a disrupted FP1 for the No. 92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo crew as Yasser Shahin received two five-minute stop-and-hold penalties for repeated track-limits abuses.

The second practice session is due to begin at 4:30 p.m. CEST (10:30 a.m. EST).

RESULTS: Free Practice 1