Ferrari takes charge in third Lone Star Le Mans practice

Ferrari 499Ps finished first and second in the third practice session for the the WEC Lone Star Le Mans, led by last year’s winning car, the yellow No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari. Robert Kubica set the fastest time early in Saturday’s 60-minute practice at Circuit of The Americas, posting a 1m51.967s in the satellite 499P.

After 15 minutes elapsed, the factory red No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari moved up to second on the leaderboard after Nicklas Nielsen set a 1m52.157s. Charles Milesi was third fastest in the No. 35 Alpine A424 with a 1m52.171s, only 14 milliseconds behind Nielsen’s time.

In contrast to yesterday’s punishing heat, there was persistent cloud cover and even a brief rain shower during FP3, though the rain was never strong enough for teams to consider switching to wet tires.

In fourth was the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R of Earl Bamber (1m52.265s), while the No. 51 Ferrari of Antonio Giovinazzi (1m52.277s) was not far behind in fifth.

Harry Tincknell’s best time in the No. 007 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie (1m52.395s) was sixth fastest in FP3, though his co-driver Tom Gamble spun out in the "snake" section during his turn behind the wheel. He wasn’t the only driver caught out in that section, as Toyota super-sub José Maria López also spun at Turn 6, but both were able to get going again.

The No. 36 Alpine of Mick Schumacher, the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Kévin Estre, the No. 8 Toyota GR010–Hybrid of Ryo Hirakawa, and the No. 20 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Sheldon van der Linde completed the top 10 in the Hypercar class.

Proton Competition’s No. 77 Ford Mustang LMGT3 went quickest of the GT cars; Ben Barker set a 2m05.947s, the fastest time of the weekend in LMGT3 to date, to lead the way.

Behind him was Silver-graded Clemens Schmid aboard the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3 in second with a 2m06.220s.

In third was Maxime Martin in the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 (2m06.232s), then Davide Rigon in the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 (2m06.240s).

Simon Mann was fifth fastest in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari, though that car would later have to serve a five-minute stop-and-go penalty for repeated track limits infringements; race control and the stewards have been particularly pointed about drivers cutting the inside of Turn 6 and throwing gravel onto the racing line this weekend.

There were more troubles on the No. 81 side of the TF Sport garage: After bringing out red flags in each of the first two practice sessions, the car stopped again with a reported cooling issue and brought out a full course yellow with just over 20 minutes to go.

The No. 81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R suffered a right-front suspension failure at the very end of FP1, then at the end of FP2, a water hose disconnected and caused the car to spin and stop.

Racing Spirit of Léman completed repairs to its No. 10 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3, which completed 23 laps and finished the session 16th in LMGT3.

Qualifying for the Lone Star Le Mans begins later today at 3:00pm local time.

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