Jakobsen Fastest in Delayed Opening Aragon Practice

Malthe Jakobsen set the fastest time in a delayed first Free Practice session for the European Le Mans Series round at Aragon.

The Danish driver steered the No. 37 Cool Racing Oreca 07 Gibson, which is entered into the LMP2 Pro-Am class, to a best lap of 1:48.738.

Jakobsen led the No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca of James Allen by 0.534 seconds, with Neel Jani third for Duqueine Team.

Paul-Loup Chatin came fourth for IDEC Sport, while Filipe Albuquerque completed the top five in the No. 21 United Autosports Oreca.

The opening 90-minute practice session for the weekend was delayed by over an hour due to barrier repairs, required after an incident in the preceding Michelin Le Mans Cup Bronze driver test.

As a result, the session went green 50 minutes later than the originally scheduled start time of 2:55 p.m. CEST (8:55 a.m. EDT).

Marcos Siebert topped the LMP3 category aboard the No. 17 Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan, reeling off a 1:53.601 to outpace the No. 8 Team Virage machine of Manuel Espirito Santo by 0.341 seconds.

Antoine Doquin slotted into third for Racing Spirit of Leman, with Inter Europol Competition’s Wyatt Brichacek and Eurointernational’s Adam Ali rounding out the top five.

Matteo Cairoli set the pace in the GTE class as the Italian driver posted a 1:58.347 in the No. 60 Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR-19, which was a mere 0.029 seconds quicker than the No. 93 Proton Competition Porsche in the hands of Richard Lietz.

The session was interrupted by Full Course Yellows several times, most notably when Salih Yoluc spun the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca in the gravel.

The LMP2 Pro-Am leaders failed to set a competitive lap time as a result and ended the session behind the LMP3 class leaders.

The second and final practice session ahead of the 4 Hours of Aragon takes place Friday at 8:30 p.m. CEST (2:30 p.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Practice 1