Hanson Quickest for United in Spa FP1

Phil Hanson set the fastest time in the opening Free Practice session for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

The British driver steered the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson to a best lap of 2:05.030, leading Cool Racing’s Malthe Jakobsen by just 0.030 seconds.

Jakobsen led a pack of three LMP2 Pro-Am entries to occupy the majority of the overall top five, with Sebastian Montoya third overall behind the wheel of the No. 21 DragonSpeed Oreca.

Bent Viscaal picked up fourth aboard the No. 20 Algarve Pro Racing machine, with Jonathan Aberdein fifth for Inter Europol Competition ahead of No. 25 APR entry in the hands of Alex Lynn.

After setting a quick lap early in the session, Job van Uitert slotted into seventh at the wheel of the No. 65 Panis Racing Oreca. United Autosports’ sole LMP2 Pro-Am entry came eighth courtesy of Nelson Piquet Jr.

The top ten was rounded out by Duqueine Team driver Rene Binder and the No. 47 Cool Racing machine in the hands of Jose Maria Lopez.

Antoine Doquin, who was selected to join Corvette Racing at November’s FIA World Endurance Championship Rookie Test at Bahrain earlier this week, narrowly led the LMP3 ranks for Racing Spirit of Leman, piloting the No. 31 Ligier JS P320 Nissan to a best lap of 2:12.789.

Marcos Siebert took second aboard the No. 17 Cool Racing Ligier, just 0.068 seconds down on the Frenchman. Wyatt Brichacek completed the top three in class for Inter Europol Competition.

In GTE, an early benchmark lap of 2:16.741 resulted in the No. 60 Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR-19 leading the class in the hands of Matteo Cairoli.

Cairoli cleared the No. 50 Formula Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Nicklas Nielsen by 0.524 seconds, with Jon Lancaster third for JMW Motorsport.

The second Free Practice session for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is scheduled for Saturday at 10:15 a.m. CEST (4:15 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Practice 1