Two seemingly very productive test sessions yesterday and three hundred and forty-nine laps between them around the Circuit de La Sarthe saw both the Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 and Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar powered crews circulate at the top of the timing screens in class, with one being the fastest overall at the end of the day.
Two three-hour sessions either side of lunch was what was on offer for the sixty-two entries with it being just another attendance at the FIA World Endurance Championship showcase event most but also a new experience for others including Gary Newell within the #27 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage LMGT3.
He apparently sailed through his minimum lap requirement during the morning session to allow the team to concentrate upon other matters within the car with Newell and co-drivers Jonny Adam and Eduardo Barrichello eventually finishing the day ninth fastest overall in class.
The #59 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR Vantage LMGT3 entry of Clement Mateau, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Marius Fossard gave indication of early intent with the all-French crew finishing the morning session second fastest overall but despite being faster in the afternoon session, finished the day twelfth fastest overall in class.
The #23 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage LMGT3 crew of Ian James, Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi played something of a ‘dark horse’ game within both sessions, never really threatening the leadership in class but just getting the job done ahead of the track sessions that will really count next week. They finished the day fifteenth fastest in class.
The two Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar classed entries certainly made their intentions known as first the #009 of Alex Riberas, Marco Sorenson and Roman De Angelis hunted down the top spot within the morning session before ultimately finishing fourth fastest in the morning whilst the #007 of Harry Tincknell, Ross Gunn and Tom Gamble went some better at the end of the day.
A best lap time of 3:26:293 saw Gunn grab the fastest lap time of the day to secure the top place at the Official test despite the crew losing out on five minutes of the afternoon session (stop plus hold penalty) after Gamble was adjoined to have flouted track limits on a repeated basis.
Whilst it is certainly not quite time to count any chickens before the 24 Hours of Le Mans main event has even begun, but the feat in itself is still a very worthy achievement for a race car programme only just entering its second year.
Whilst the drivers will now get a couple of days off from driving, the crews will now be busy stripping down their cars before rebuilding them in time for the pit stop challenge on Tuesday and Free Practice one on Wednesday.
Photo credits – AMR / DPPI Images / social media