Tincknell puts Aston Martin ahead in second COTA WEC practice

The No. 007 Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie topped Free Practice 2 for the FIA World Endurance Championship runners this afternoon at Circuit of The Americas with a time of 1m52.567s from Harry Tincknell.

The performance from the No. 007, which sat top for the majority of the 90-minute session, marked a turnaround of pace after it finished FP1 down in 12th. The team hopes this is a sign of a stronger weekend to come, as the Valkyries had a race to forget last year on home soil for The Heart of Racing, with both cars suffering mechanical issues.

The sister No. 009, meanwhile, finished the first practice session in eighth position and ended up in the same spot once again, having shaved off a second off its best time earlier in the day. It did though cause a yellow in the session as Marco Sorensen had an off at Turn 7 and became trapped in an escape road unable to select reverse.

Both Alpine Endurance Team cars had another good showing, with Charles Milesi posting a 1m52.689s early in the session that put the No. 35 A424 in second place. The No. 36 finished the session fourth, less than 0.3 second off of Tincknell’s quickest lap.

Mathys Jaubert, meanwhile, placed the No. 17 Genesis Magma Racing P3 in practice with a 1m52.811s early in the session, a significant improvement from the car’s previous best: a 1m55.125s. The lap came after he brushed the wall and ended up beached at Turn 2 which caused a red flag at the start of the session.

The three Ferrari 499Ps finished in sequence, with the #83 leading the pack in fifth, followed by the No. 50 and No. 51.

Elsewhere, Kevin Magnussen is under investigation post-session, after the Dane took the checkered flag twice in the No. 15 BMW. The two WRT-run M Hybrid V8s were ninth and 10th in the order.

The vast majority of the field ran on the medium Michelin tires for the whole session, though there were a few cars once again that sampled the Hard. The No. 19 Genesis GMR-001 was the only car that spent the entire session on it.

In LMGT3, Heart of Racing’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage topped the times, adding to the team’s encouraging afternoon, with a 2m05.609s from Zach Robichon, putting it four tenths up on the field.

“The car, as we knew coming in, likes it here. We didn’t make too many changes, we just focused on the driving and making sure we had a car good for long stints,” Robichon said.

Team boss and driver Ian James added: “It’s great to see Heart of Racing on top in both classes. We have to consolidate where we’re at. GT is about tire life and stint left. The Valkyries have to work on their qualifying so they can start at the front and work with clear air.”

The No. 61 Iron Lynx continued to show pace around the Texan circuit, with Maxime Martin setting a 2m05.049s with 34 minutes remaining in the session that would put the car second.

The No. 79 from Iron Lynx completed the top three. The two Garage 59 McLarens were fourth and fifth, with The Bend Manthey Porsche sixth.

Free Practice 3 is next at 11:00am locl time Saturday.

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