Buemi Leads Damp Warm-Up Session

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Sebastien Buemi led a damp warm-up session for the 24 Hours of Le Mans after early morning rainfall created a slippery track surface.

The 15-minute run passed without major incident although there was an off-track moment for Nicki Thiim who overshot his Aston Martin’s entry to Mulsanne before rejoining.

Both Toyota TS050 Hybrids ran on wet tires at the start before Buemi set his time of 3:36.683 on intermediates to beat Mike Conway by 2.6 seconds.

Neither Rebellion Racing nor ByKolles Racing posted flying laps with their non-hybrid LMP1 cars during the installation session.

The third-best overall effort was set by LMP2 class leader Giedo van der Garde who posted a 3:43.022 behind the wheel of the Racing Team Nederland Oreca 07 Gibson.

Fourth-quickest, and second in LMP2, was Matthieu Vaxiviere at the wheel of the Panis Racing Oreca on Goodyear tires.

Behind the Frenchman was Nick Foster in Eurasia Motorsport’s Ligier JS P217 Gibson.

Fastest in GTE-Pro was James Calado on a 4:12.476 aboard the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo while Giancarlo Fisichella paced GTE-Am, also in an AF Corse Ferrari.

Red River Sport’s GTE-Am Ferrari returned to the track in the warm-up after missing Friday’s track activity, owing to repairs from a crash for Bonamy Grimes on Thursday night.