Toyota Paces Silverstone FP3; Ferrari Quickest in GTE-Pro

Kazuki Nakajima set the pace for Toyota Gazoo Racing while Rebellion Racing ended up second and third in the order during Saturday morning practice at Silverstone.

Buemi posted the fastest lap of the 60-minute session early on, with the Swiss driver’s 1:37.014 effort eclipsing the closest Rebellion challenge from Nathanael Berthon by 0.398s.

Both Rebellion R13 Gibsons split the pair of Toyota TS050 Hybrids with the team’s No. 1 car leading its No. 3 sister entry in the timing charts; Gustavo Menezes posting a time of 1:37.950.

Toyota’s No. 7 car came through in fourth with Mike Conway lapping almost a second off the pace set by Buemi, who is sharing the No. 8 car with Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley.

Team LNT’s Ginetta G60-LT-P1 AERs ended FP3 in fifth and sixth, with the British constructor’s No. 5 car leading the No. 6.

The No. 5 Ginetta had an awkward moment early in the session when a piece of right-rear bodywork popped up as Charlie Robertson spun through the high-speed Becketts sequence.

The car returned to the track later on to complete aa total of 19 laps.

In LMP2, United Autosports led the way with Phil Hanson’s time of 1:41.271, putting the No. 22 Oreca 07 Gibson on top for all three of the weekend’s practice sessions.

Hanson ended up six-tenths quicker than Giedo van der Garde, who slotted the Racing Team Nederland Oreca innto second, while Will Stevens lapped third for Jackie Chan DC Racing.

Quickest in GTE-Pro was the No. 51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo in which James Calado produced a class benchmark of 1:54.467.

The British driver, who won at Silverstone last year with Alessandro Pier Guidi, set the pace ahead of the two Porsche 911 RSR-19s and the No. 71 Ferrari with Davide Rigon at the helm.

The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari also topped FP2, after finishing second in the opening session of the weekend.

Nicklas Niesen’s GTE-Am chart-topping time of 1:54.662 in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari was enough to place the Danish driver third in the GTE-Pro order.

Next up for the WEC is qualifying, which is set to take place at 11:50 a.m. local time (6:50 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Free Practice 3