WRT BMW cranks up speed in second WEC practice at COTA

As the temperatures continued to climb in Austin, BMW M Team WRT turned up the pace during the second free practice for the WEC Lone Star Le Mans at COTA.

Both WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s had a claim to the fastest time, but it officially belongs in the ledger of the Shell-sponsored No. 20 BMW and driver Sheldon van der Linde. The South African set the fastest official lap of the session at 1m51.946s; he was the first driver to surpass the 1m52s barrier Friday.

Dries Vanthoor in the No. 15 BMW went quicker soon after, posting a 1m51.816s – but his time was deleted for a track limits infringement. As it played out, the blue, red and white BMW only finished 13th in the Hypercar class.

Antonio Giovinazzi was second-fastest aboard the No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P with a lap of 1m52.407s, only 0.05s up on the No. 009 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie of Alex Riberas in third.

Kevin Estre was fourth in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 (1m52.697s), then Robert Kubica in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari (1m52.746s) completed the top five ahead of the No. 5 Penske Porsche of Julien Andlauer (1m52.921s).

Harry Tincknell was seventh-quickest in the No. 007 Aston Martin, keeping the strong results going for the V12-powered Valkyrie.

The No. 50 Ferrari, No. 7 Toyota GR010–Hybrid, and No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R completed the top ten in Hypercar.

In LMGT3, United Autosports’ McLaren LMGT3 Evos finished first and fourth, and on top was the No. 95 driven by Silver-graded Indonesian Sean Gelael. In a potential preview for Saturday's Hyperpole qualifying session, the top six times in the class were set by Silver drivers. 

Gelael’s best lap of 2m06.545s was less than 0.1s quicker than a strong second-place effort from Rahel Frey in the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 LMGT3 R (2m06.635s).

The two Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3s also showed solid one-lap pace, led by the No. 88 Ford of Giammarco Levorato in third (2m06.853s). Behind them was the No. 59 United McLaren of Sébastien Baud in fourth, then Finn Gehrsitz in the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3 in fifth, and the No. 77 Proton Ford of Bernardo Sousa.

Iron Lynx’s Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 EVOs were seventh and eighth, with the No. 61 ahead of the No. 60. Notably, it was Bronze driver Martin Berry who set the No. 61’s best time (2m07.306s).

Compared to FP1 which was interrupted by four red flags, FP2 was briefly disrupted by a stoppage to remove the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 after it stopped on course in sector two.

The No. 10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin did not run after Derek DeBoer’s crash in FP1, the car still undergoing chassis repairs which would not allow it to take part in FP2.

In addition, the No. 81 TF Sport Corvette spent most of the session in the garage; the car suffered a right front suspension problem at the very end of FP1 after it went second-quickest behind the No. 33 Corvette. The car was still able to turn 12 laps and go 12th-fastest before the car broke down again at Turn 13, bringing out a red flag to end the session with less than three minutes to go.

Free practice three for the 6 Hours of COTA starts Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CT (local time).

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