Porsche Quickest in Friday’s Opening Test Session at Paul Ricard

Photo: John Dagys

Porsche has topped the time charts in a windy opening session at Paul Ricard, as FIA WEC teams kick off the two-day Prologue pre-season test.

Marc Lieb pedaled the No. 18 Porsche 919 Hybrid to a quick time of 1:39.292 in the four-hour session, outpacing the No. 1 Toyota TS040 Hybrid by more than six-tenths.

Lieb’s impressive time was set in gusty conditions, with wind speeds in excess of 30 mph.

The sister No. 17 Porsche was third quickest with a 1:40.032 lap time, with the pair of Audi R18 e-tron quattros completing the top-five overall and in LMP1.

KCMG led the way in LMP2, although the 1:48.924 lap time by Richard Bradley came prior to an accident for the brand-new Oreca 05 Nissan, which sustained bodywork damage.

It is expected to rejoin for the afternoon session, with spares having been sourced from ORECA.

The No. 42 Strakka-Dome S103 Nissan and the No. 36 Signatech-Alpine A450b-Nissan completed the top-three.

AF Corse (Ferrari) and Aston Martin Racing led the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am categories, respectively.

Twenty-seven of the 30 cars turned laps, with all three of the Ligier JS P2 Nissans from G-Drive Racing and OAK Racing not setting a time.

The No. 35 OAK entry is reported to have engine issues, while the other two G-Drive cars are not expected to sit out the majority of the day.

RESULTS: Test Session 1

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