
Photo: John Dagys
Toyota topped the time charts on a rainy Friday in Austin, as FIA World Endurance Championship teams continue preparations for Sunday’s Six Hours of the Circuit of The Americas.
Anthony Davidson reeled off a best lap of 2:00.756 in the No. 8 Toyota TS030 Hybrid to go quickest overall and on the day, which was washed out due to heavy rain.
The Englishman set the time on intermediate tires prior to a torrential downpour, which effectively brought the afternoon session to an end.
“It was a pity with the weather but we knew it was going to be like this as we saw it on the radar,” Davidson said. “It gave us a chance to drive in the wet before qualifying and the car felt okay in the rain. We still haven’t got a perfect balance but we were able to run the intermediate tires early in the afternoon session and the car felt really good.”
Conditions were no better in the 90-minute morning session, either, as only 19 of the 28 cars ventured out onto the 3.4-mile, 20-turn session. All but one car took part in the afternoon.
Davidson edged out Thursday’s pace-setting No. 2 Audi of Loic Duval by more than three seconds. The Audi driver set his quick time in the morning.
The No. 26 G-Drive Racing by Delta-ADR Oreca 03 Nissan of John Martin paced LMP2, while the No. 91 Porsche AG Team Manthey entry of Richard Lietz (GTE-Pro) and Nicki Thim’s No. 95 Aston Martin Racing entry (GTE-Am) topped the production-based ranks.
Forecasts tomorrow call for the possibility of additional showers, although it should dry up in time for qualifying Saturday afternoon.
RESULTS: Free Practice 1
RESULTS: Free Practice 2
