Alpine quickest in rainy final WEC practice at Fuji

Alpine's No. 36 A424 finished top of the times for the second practice session in a row at Fuji this morning in soaking wet conditions trackside.

Victor Martins was again the quickest driver for the team, which is looking to claim a second consecutive win at the Japanese circuit tomorrow. His best time was a 1:40.594 set with 23 minutes remaining of the 60-minute session ahead of Qualifying this afternoon, which also looks set to take place in the rain.

That lap placed the No. 36 atop the times, dethroning the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie, which was fastest early with a 1:40.830 from Harry Tincknell.

In the end, Tincknell's time would be bettered by both Martins and Marco Sorensen, who set a late 1:40.730, before a late improvement to 1:40.659 at the end of the session from the Briton saw the No. 007 reclaim second.

The three improvements came after a brief red flag, caused by an incident involving the No. 007 in the tricky conditions.

It occurred 20 minutes into the session, when Tincknell failed to get the Valkyrie to stop for the Turn 10 hairpin, collecting the No. 27 THOR Aston Martin Vantage of Ian James at corner entry. The impact caused damage to the left side of the Valkyrie and the front right corner of the Vantage, spreading debris across the circuit, prompting the brief stoppage. Thankfully, the damage wasn't too heavy, and both cars returned to the track after repairs.

That wasn't the only incident, as a clash between the No. 20 BMW M Hybrid V8 and No. 51 Ferrari 499P at Turn 7 caused a Full-Course Yellow to enable marshals to remove a chunk of bodywork from the circuit.

Alpine's rivals at Peugeot also showed pace in the session, with the No. 94 9X8 ending up fourth, with a time half a second off. The No. 19 Genesis, which has been quick all weekend so far, completed the top five.

In LMGT3, it was the Racing Team Turkey Corvette which emerged as the quickest car, after a 1:51.232 at the death from factory driver Charlie Eastwood.

"We obviously ended up P1 there,” Eastwood said post session. “I only had four laps at the end and got in with 10 or 11 minutes to go. With the wet, you're always chipping away lap by lap especially in practice; you don't want to overcook it.

“We had a race in the wet at Silverstone a couple of weeks ago, and the Corvette performed super well so I was confident in what the car can do. It bodes well for this afternoon but to be honest we look good in the dry as well. So I really have no massive preference if it's wet or dry tomorrow."

That was the last improvement in the class after a late flurry of fast times. Parker Thompson set a 1:51.564 in the second half of the session to rise up the order in the No. 69 WRT BMW, going top until Eastwood's tour, pushing the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari to second at the time.

The No. 88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang also ran quickly, slotting in third with a 1:51.575 shortly after.

The No.54 Ferrari would finish the morning fourth after Francesco Castellacci's best lap (1:51.606), with the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette eventually fifth following a 1:51.658 from championship leader Jonny Edgar.

Qualifying is set to get underway at 14:00 local time.

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