Moore, Race Performance Quickest in FP1 at Buriram

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Struan Moore took Race Performance to the top of the timesheets in Free Practice 1 for the Four Hours of Buriram, as the Asian Le Mans Series gets back underway.

He set a lap time of 1:28.126 at the end of the session in the Oreca 03R Judd that he shares with Giorgio Maggi and Fabien Schiller, going 0.391 seconds than second-placed Ho-Pin Tung in the championship-leading Jackie Chan DC Racing entry.

The two Algarve Pro Racing cars completed the LMP2 class standings, with Andrea Pizzitola in the No. 25 car ahead of the sister No. 24 car.

Meanwhile, Aidan Read topped the LMP3 category in the Wineurasia Ligier JS P3 Nissan on a last-minute charge, going five-tenths faster than the second-placed Jackie Chan DC Racing Ligier.

Alessandro Pier Guidi was the quickest of the GT drivers in the Team BBT Ferrari 488 GT3 he drives with Anthony Liu and Davide Rizzo, while the two Team AAI-run BMW M6 GT3s were second and third.

A lap time of 1:33.263 put Pier Guidi in a comfortable class lead, although several of the LMP3 entries were setting similar lap times to the top GT cars.

All five classes are represented this weekend, although the CN and GT Cup categories have just one entry each, from PS Racing and Team NZ, respectively. Both completed a considerable amount of laps in the opening 90-minute practice session.

The only car not to take to the track was the Ligier JS P3 Nissan of Tockwith Motorsports. The car sustained heavy damage in a private testing accident earlier this week. The team is shipping a replacement car in, which is expected to arrive in time for Saturday’s session.

Free Practice 2 is scheduled for 9:40 a.m. local time Saturday, followed by qualifying later in the day.

RESULTS: Free Practice 1

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.