Giovinazzi Leads Ferrari 1-2 in COTA FP2

Antonio Giovinazzi led a Ferrari 1-2 in the second Free Practice session for the Lone Star Le Mans event at Circuit of The Americas.

The Italian steered the No. 51 Ferrari 499P to a best lap of 1:52.268 during the closing 90-minute session on Friday, outpacing Antonio Fuoco’s No. 50 car by just 0.052 seconds.

Giovinazzi’s time marked a considerable improvement over the 1:53.574 that Matt Campbell posted to lead the opening session.

Robin Frijns completed the top three aboard the No. 20 BMW M Hybrid V8, although the car caused the session’s sole red flag when Sheldon van der Linde stopped on track with 46 minutes to go.

The South African driver lost his right-rear wheel, per a BMW spokesperson, coming to a halt at Turn 15.

Alex Lynn slotted into fourth aboard the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Robert Kubica completing the top five behind the wheel of the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari.

Sebastien Buemi was the best of the Toyota drivers in sixth place aboard the No. 8 GR010 Hybrid, a mere 0.003 seconds clear of the seventh-placed No. 15 BMW in the hands of Dries Vanthoor.

Hertz Team JOTA’s pair of customer Porsche 963 were the only cars from the German brand to feature in the top ten, with Norman Nato and Jenson Button occupying eighth and ninth, respectively.

Kamui Kobayashi completed the overall top ten behind the wheel of the No. 7 Toyota.

In the LMGT3 class, Daniel Juncadella clocked a 2:05.630 to top the timesheets behind the wheel of the No. 82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

The Spaniard went 0.043 seconds faster than the No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by Alessio Rovera, while Davide Rigon picked up third aboard the sister Ferrari.

Esteban Masson’s No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3 and the No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 piloted by Franck Perera completed the top five in class.

Track action at COTA continues with the third and final practice session on Saturday at 11 a.m. local time (12 p.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Free Practice 2