today is Mar 24, 2023
Free Practice 3 at Sebring for the FIA WEC runners saw a return to the top of the times for Glickenhaus. Olivier Pla went quickest, beating Alpine’s A480 to the top spot with a 1m49.261s tour of the circuit in the sole 007 LMH present. It is the quickest lap of anyone on the WEC side of the Super Sebring ledger thus far.
Alpine’s Nicolas Lapierre initially set the pace early in the session with a 1m49.664s in the French-flagged grandfathered LMP1 machine, but it wasn’t enough to match Pla’s best, set around the halfway mark of the session.
Toyota again struggled to find the ultimate pace with its GR010s, the quickest of the two (the No. 8) ending up fifth overall behind the quickest runners in the LMP2 class. The No. 7, meanwhile, ended up eighth overall with a time 1.2 seconds off Pla’s best.
Filipe Albuquerque was the fastest driver in LMP2 driving United Autosports’ No. 22 ORECA, his best time was 1m49.745s. It was just over two tenths faster than the No. 38 JOTA ORECA, which had its best time set by Antonio Felix da Costa. ranked third overall in the LMP2-leading ORECA 07 Gibson from United Autosports.
GTE was led by Porsche in Pro, Michael Christensen setting the best time of the German marque’s two 911s. The Dane’s best was a 1m57.448s, two tenths clear of the sister car.
Best of the rest was Corvette Racing’s C8.R third overall in the GTE ranks, over a second off the pace. AF Corse again failed to set a time capable of putting a Ferrari at the top of the times, the quickest of the two 488s was the No. 51, which ended up two tenths off the quickest time from the Am category.
In Am it was the No. 46 Team Project 1 Porsche that topped the times, Matteo Carioli reeling off a 1m58.776s on the Floridian airfield circuit. Behind, Sebastien Priaulx set the best time in the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Porsche to go second, while Nicki Thiim broke the Porsche deadlock at the top by putting the Northwest AMR Vantage third.
There were a few incidents of note in the final session ahead of qualifying later tonight. The most dramatic was the No. 85 Iron Dames Ferrari, which brushed the barriers at Turn 17 with Sarah Bovy at the wheel. She made it back to the pits but the car didn’t return to the track after suffering rear-end damage.
Ed Jones, meanwhile, had a spin at Turn 3 in the No. 28 JOTA ORECA caused by a detached wheel. The No. 45 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA during James Allen’s run also had an off causing a caution period, though the car made no contact with the barriers.
It was also notable that the session had to be red-flagged after the checkered flag came out, due to two cars continuing to lap the circuit after what should have been their out laps. This included the quickest car in the session, the No. 708 Glickenhaus, which crossed the finish line two additional times!
UP NEXT: Sebring 1000 Miles qualifying at 7:00 p.m. ET
