By Johan Laubscher
Three long months of
waiting as come to an end as the FIA World Endurance Championship gets underway
with round 4 at the Circuit of The Americas this weekend. The track action
kicked off with two free practice sessions on Thursday.
The heavyweight factory
LMP1 battle is resuming in Texas with all three manufacturers ready to hit the
track following the Le Mans 24 Hours in June. Toyota, current championship
leaders, has arrived in North America with two of their Toyota TS040 Hybrid
cars, joined by two-car entries from Audi and Porsche. The Audi Sport Team Joest squad sees the
#1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro being driven by Tom Kristensen, Lucas di Grassi and
the returning Loïc Duval. The Le Mans winning squad of Marcel Fässler, André
Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer will again be behind the wheel of the #2 Audi R18
e-tron quattro.
Free practice 1 got proceedings underway at 14:45 and concluded with Audi topping
the times. Marcel Fässler set the fastest time with a 1:51.136 in the #2 Audi.
Tom Kristensen set the second fastest time, ensuring an Audi 1-2 at the top of
the time sheets. Porsche #20 placed third, ahead of the two Toyotas and the second
Porsche in sixth.
The second and final
session on Friday saw dark and wet conditions. The #8 Toyota lead the way,
followed by Audi #1, Toyota #7 and Audi #2 rounding out the top four. The
Porsches placed fifth and eighth.
Track running will
continue on Friday with the third and final free practice session, followed by
qualifying during the early evening.
