Hughes Tops Free Practice 1 in Barcelona

Photo: Laurent Cartalade/MPS Agency

Jake Hughes set the fastest time for Algarve Pro Racing in the opening Free Practice session for the 4 Hours of Barcelona.

Hughes completed a 1:29.720 lap in the No. 25 Oreca 07 Gibson that he shares with Matthias Kaiser and Tristan Vautier. The former Formula E driver also set the fastest time in the European Le Mans Series pre-season test held in Barcelona earlier this week.

The session was extended by ten minutes after the red flag was brought out early into the session. On-track action was paused for more than 20 minutes as marshals cleaned an oil spill after the No. 27 Nielsen Racing car of Alex Quinn experienced a mechanical failure.

The car did not return to the track for the remainder of the session.

Hughes was 0.205 seconds faster than the No. 28 IDEC Sport Oreca, with the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition entry slotting into third.

CLX Motorsport’s No. 37 Oreca placed fourth, and TDS racing led the times for the LMP2 Pro-Am category, finishing the session in fifth place overall with its No. 14 car driven by Sami Meguetounif.

The No. 29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca of Louis Rousset, Oliver Gray and Esteban Masson rounded out the top six.

The No. 13 Ligier JS P325 Toyota set the fastest time in LMP3 with a 1:38.236 from Manuel Espirito Santo. R-ace GP was 0.584 seconds behind, with the No. 8 Team Virage completing the top three in class.

Genesis Magma Racing driver Mathys Jaubert set the fastest lap in the LMGT3 category with a 1:41.577 in the No. 47 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo that he shares with Daniel Serra and Takeshi Kimura.

The No. 86 Ferrari of GR Racing was 0.413 seconds behind in second.

Ferrari locked out the top four in the first Free Practice session of the season as Richard Mille AF Corse and the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari finished third and fourth, respectively.

Free Practice 2 for this weekend’s four-hour race is scheduled for Saturday at 10:10 a.m. local time (4:10 a.m. ET).

RESULTS:  Free Practice 1

Finlay Ringer

Finlay Ringer is a freelance motorsport journalist covering the 24H Series for Sportscar365. He is also a journalism student at City St George's, University of London, and has contributed to publications such as The Race and Autocar.