United Quickest in Final Session Before Causing Late Red Flag

The No. 22 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson led the fourth and final FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue session at Sebring before causing a late red flag that brought the test to a close.

Filipe Albuquerque posted a time of 1:48.439 to take the overall top spot on Sunday afternoon, piloting one of two LMP2 cars run by United.

The Portuguese driver’s fellow 2019-20 WEC class champion Phil Hanson then went off with around 15 minutes remaining, the car coming back to the paddock on a flatbed without its rear wing.

Hanson reportedly locked up over the bumps at Turn 17 and ran out into the marbles before swiping the tire barrier.

The No. 56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR-19 also crashed on Sunday afternoon, causing a red flag in the early stages of the session.

Project 1 is “assessing the situation” according to Inception Racing’s Bas Leinders after Brendan Iribe went off following contact with the No. 9 Prema Oreca.

Iribe walked away from the accident but the Inception-backed Porsche did not return to the track due to substantial damage.

There was also a Full Course Yellow period caused by debris between Turns 3-4.

Albuquerque’s leading time came with around half an hour to go and eclipsed the 1:48.617 effort set by Andre Negrao for Hypercar chart-topper Alpine Elf Team.

Robin Frijns ranked third overall in the No. 31 WRT Oreca, ahead of Prema’s Louis Deletraz and Paul di Resta in the other United Autosports LMP2 machine.

The quickest Toyota GR010 Hybrid was the No. 8 car with new signing Ryo Hirakawa behind the wheel.

The Japanese racer submitted a 1:49.595 to end up eighth, behind the No. 708 Glickenhaus 007 Pipo which took second in Hypercar and the Oreca from Vector Sport.

The fastest Hypercar lap of the test was set by Alpine’s Nico Lapierre on Sunday morning.

Corvette Racing paced the GTE-Pro category courtesy of Nick Tandy’s 1:56.476 aboard the No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

Porsche 911 RSR-19s topped the first three sessions but Tandy managed to get ahead of both cars from the German manufacturer.

Gianmaria Bruni was second in the No. 91 Porsche, 0.031 seconds shy of the Corvette, while Michael Christensen took third in the No. 92.

Christensen was the fastest GTE-Pro driver of the Prologue with a 1:55.315 that came on Sunday morning.

Harry Tincknell took the GTE-Am top spot on Sunday afternoon, building on his co-driver Sebastian Priaulx’s fastest lap during the preceding session.

Tincknell clocked in at 1:57.787 aboard the No. 88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche, beating Team Project 1’s Matteo Cairoli and AF Corse’s Toni Vilander at the sharp end.

RESULTS: Session 4