Porsche on top in 6H Nurburgring FP1

The opening practice session of the WEC 6 Hours of Nurburgring was topped by Porsche. Le Mans winner and current championship leader Timo Bernhard in the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid set the fastest time, a 1m41.612s in the final 20 minutes of running.

The German's tour of his home circuit was two tenths faster than Sebastien Buemi's in the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 HYBRID. The Swiss' 1m41.896s was set 10 minutes into the session, and looked to be the fastest time possible throughout the 90-minutes of action before Bernhard's late flyer.

Just before Bernhard's best time, Neel Jani put the No. 1 Porsche third with a 1m41.896s, to demote the No. 7 Toyota to fourth.

In LMP2, Vaillante Rebellion led the way, with Bruno Senna going quickest in the No. 31 ORECA after reeling off a 1m47.717s. The car – then driven by Julien Canal – was involved in a collision at Turn 5 with the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Porsche of Marvin Dienst with five minutes remaining, which brought it to a premature end.

After speaking to both Rebellion and Proton, RACER understands that Canal dived up the inside of Dienst at Turn 4, and the left-rear wheel hit the right-hand-side door of the Proton Porsche, sending it onto the grass on the outside. The pair then collided again at the left-hander at Turn 5 as Dienst, out of control on the grass, was sent back into the side of Canal, pushing him into the gravel.

The Porsche will take part in FP2 later today, though the Rebellion team has confirmed to RACER that its car will not take part in the second session, due to the length of time the subsequent bodywork and radiator repairs will take. Both drivers are OK.

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The top four in LMP2 were within a second of each other. The quartet was completed by the No. 26 G-Drive Racing ORECA, following a 1:48.379 by Pierre Thiriet to go second, ahead of the No. 28 TDS Racing ORECA and No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing crews.

This weekend all but one of the teams are running an ORECA in LMP2. Gulf-backed Tockwith Motorsports with its Ligier JS P217 was back of the pack in the class, the best time from drivers Nigel Moore and Phil Hanson 3.9 seconds off Senna's best.

AF Corse ran fastest to kick off the weekend in GTE Pro, Davide Rigon – this weekend joined by IMSA regular Toni Vilander – steering the No. 71 Ferrari 488 to a 1m57.170s in the hotly contested class in which seven of the eight cars lapped within a second of one another.

Second was the No. 92 Porsche after Frenchman Kevin Estre set a 1m57.307s lap, to better the sister No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari in third, just under two tenths off.

In GTE Am, the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Porsche which was involved in the Turn 5 crash went fastest. Dienst's teammate Matteo Cairoli set a 1m59.208s to go 0.138 faster than the No. 54 Spirit of Race Ferrari and 0.162 quicker than the Gulf Racing UK Porsche in third.

UP NEXT: Free Practice 2 for the FIA WEC runners at the Nurburgring is set to get underway at 4:15 p.m. local time in Germany.