Kubica puts Ferrari ahead in first Barcelona WEC practice

AF Corse’s No. 83 Ferrari 499P topped the times in the WEC’s first-ever competitive session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Robert Kubica set a 1m31.891s in a 10-lap run at the start of Free Practice 1 on a split set of soft and medium Michelin tires, putting him and his teammates a tenth up on the Hypercar field.

All three 499Ps were quick in the session, with the two factory cars also slotting into the top four. The outlier was the No. 009 Aston Martin Valkyrie, which rose to second and split the trio of Ferraris with a 1m31.998s from Alex Riberas, the only other driver to set a lap in the 31s.

The No. 51 Ferrari ended up third, with the No. 50 sister car fourth. Aston’s No. 007 completed the top five with a 1m32.716 from Harry Tincknell on a set of mediums. Best of the rest was the Fuji-winning, championship-leading No. 8 Toyota Racing TR010, which finished sixth with a time from Sebastien Buemi almost a second off Kubica.

Ferrari was also fast in LMGT3, with the two Vista AF Corse 296 LMGT3s finishing the 90-minute run first and second in the class with laps in the 1m41s.

Factory driver Alessio Rovera was the team’s fastest driver in the No. 21, setting a 1m41.480s to go four tenths faster than the No. 51. It represented a fast start for the Italian-flagged outfit, which is still searching for its first win of the season.

The No. 34 Racing Team Turkey Corvette was third with a 1m41.859. The No. 10 Garage 59 McLaren slotted in fourth, with the No. 61 Mercedes-AMG GT3 from Iron Lynx fifth. TF Sport’s No. 33 Corvette, driven by Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and solo points leader Jonny Edgar, was 1.1s off in 10th.

Heart of Racing’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage, another car in title contention carrying significant success ballast this weekend, was dead last in the classification, with its best time a 1m44.051s.

It was a clean session to start the weekend, broken up only by a brief five-minute full course yellow.

Action resumes with Free Practice 2 at 4:30pm local time this afternoon.

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