Ferrari rules opening Lone Star Le Mans practice

Ferrari's factory 499Ps set the pace in the opening practice session for the FIA World Endurance Championship's Lone Star Le Mans weekend at Circuit of The Americas, finishing 1-2 in Hypercar.

Antonio Giovinazzi was the fastest of the team's six drivers, setting a 1m53.824 on a full set of medium compound tires in the No. 51 Ferrari 499P.

The No. 50 finished the session 0.2s behind its sister car, logging a total of 38 laps over the hour-and-a-half session, two fewer than the No. 51. Antonio Fuoco set its best time.

It was a strong start to the weekend for the Italian team, which will hope this form continues as it looks to capture its first win of the year.

In a late-session surge, the No. 36 Alpine Endurance Team car put in a 1m54.223s with Victor Martins aboard to go third fastest in the session, with the No. 35 Alpine following them up the order into fifth quickest. The No. 8 Toyota split the French teammates, turning up the intensity about half an hour into the session after setting some banker laps.

The Aston Martin THOR and Genesis Magma Racing camps had a good showing, both with a car in the top nine of the session with the No. 009 and No. 19.

There was plenty of experimentation with the medium and hard Michelin tires across the Hypercar field. Many teams ran full sets of mediums; the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari ran mediums on the front and hards on the rear, and four cars ran a full set of hards: both Genesis GMR-001s, along with the No. 12 Jota Cadillac V-Series.R and the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie.

Both BMW Team WRT M Hybrid V8s finished down the order in P15 for the No. 15 and P17 for the No. 20, which is level on points in the drivers’ championship with the No. 7 Toyota, which finished the session P6.

In LMGT3, Tom Fleming in the No. 10 Garage 59 McLaren eclipsed the long-standing fastest lap of the session from the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 with 20 minutes to go, heading the class with a 2m06.016s.

Sitting eighth in the standings, the McLaren is looking positive after a disappointing weekend in São Paolo where it finished 25 laps off the lead. The Iron Lynx wound up second, with the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren just 0.034s back of the Mercedes in third.

The No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari finished the session fourth quickest, showing good pace. The team is looking to extend its record of points finishes this season to five. Behind the Ferrari was the first Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, with the No. 23 Heart of Racing car in the mid-2:06s, in touch with the leading McLaren.

Next up is Free Practice 2 at 4:00pm local time, with FP3 and qualifying to follow on Saturday.

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