Lapierre Fastest on Friday at Spa

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Nicolas Lapierre topped European Le Mans Series Free Practice 1 on Friday afternoon, with the Frenchman lapping Spa-Francorchamps with a time of 2:08.629.

The No. 21 Oreca 05 Nissan of DragonSpeed ended up just 0.093 seconds clear of SMP Racing; the BR Engineering BR01 piloted by Stefan Coletti.

Olivier Pla took third place for Krohn Racing, in the team’s Ligier JS P2 Nissan, while championship leader Mathias Beche was fourth-fastest for Thiriet by TDS Racing.

The Team WRT car finished sixth, while the title-contending G-Drive Racing entry was down in 11th.

United Autosports topped the LMP3 class in the first session. Alex Brundle was quickest in the No. 2 Ligier JS P3 Nissan, with a 2:15.517.

Brundle, Mike Guasch and Christian England could secure the championship this weekend, the second-to-last round of the season.

Simon Gachet was second-fastest in the Panis Barthez Competition entry, while Yann Ehrlacher came third in the M.Racing YMR car.

AT Racing and Alessandro Pier Guidi paced the GTE category with their No. 56 Ferrari F458 Italia, while Andrea Bertolini ensured it was a Ferrari 1-2 in class with the JMW Motorsport car.

Free Practice 2 is set for 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.

RESULTS: Free Practice 1

Jake Kilshaw

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