Ferrari finished the second free practice session of the WEC in Austin with a one-two lead. Antonio Giovinazzi led the #51 499P (Pier Guidi, Giovinazzi, Calado) to first place with the best time of 1:52.268 minutes. The former Formula 1 driver won by 0.052 seconds ahead of the sister car driven by the reigning Le Mans winners Antonio Fuoco (1:52.320 minutes), Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen.
The Ferrari duo took the lead in the results list after just a few laps of their qualifying practice runs. With his fastest lap, Giovinazzi clearly beat the best time from the first practice session (Matt Campbell, Porsche: 1:53.574 minutes) by 1.3 seconds.
WEC Austin training: Porsche best time in the last minute – Schumacher drives Alpine best time
WEC comeback: Heat battle in Austin
Afterwards, the Italians and the other Hypercar teams turned their attention to racing procedures. With an outside temperature of 34 degrees (50 degrees on the track), the focus was on understanding the Michelin slick tires (medium and hard) in order to be as well prepared as possible for the sixth race of the season on Sunday. In addition to high temperatures, the 6-hour race also threatens storms and rain.
Behind the fourth-placed #2 Cadillac V-Series.R (Bamber, Lynn), the privately entered Ferrari from AF Corse, the third 499P, also made it into the top five of the classification. Robert Kubica drove the fastest lap of the #83 trio (Kubica, Shwartzman, Ye) in 1:52.705 minutes – 0.437 seconds behind the factory car. Already in the first practice session, the three Ferraris secured places in the top five in the field of 18 hypercars.
Who is showing WEC in Austin (USA) live on free TV and live stream this weekend?
Both Toyotas in the top 10 – Porsche’s factory duo at the back
Seventh, eighth and ninth places went to the #15 BMW (Dries Vanthoor, Marciello, Wittmann) and the two Jota Porsches with Will Stevens/Callum Ilott/Norman Nato and Oliver Rasmussen/Phil Hanson/Jenson Button. The factory Porsches run by Penske Motorsport only finished in 13th place (#5 with Campbell, Christensen, Makowiecki) and 17th place (#6 with Estre, Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor). The world championship leaders around the German Andre Lotterer were surrounded by the two Peugeot 9X8s in the last places.
WEC Austin 2024 – Balance of Performance: Toyota falls below magic performance limit
Mick Schumacher again fastest Alpine driver
The 25-year-old needed 1:53.491 minutes for his best lap on the Circuit of the Americas. Schumacher was around two tenths of a second faster than Ferdinand Habsburg in the #35 Alpine. The Austrian and his teammates Charles Milesi and Paul-Loup Chatin were able to fully get back into the action after a temporary MGU problem in the first practice session in the afternoon.
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WEC in Austin: Who will broadcast the race on free TV?
In the LMGT3 class, the #82 Corvette Z06 GT3.R (Koizumi, Baud, Juncadella) from TF Sport prevailed against its 17 competitors, probably to the delight of the spectators present. The two Ferrari 296 GT3s from AF Corse followed in second and third place. World Championship leader Manthey-Porsche secured sixth place (#91 with Shahin, Schuring, Lietz) and 15th place (#92 with Malykhin, Sturm, Bachler).
The 3rd free practice session on Saturday (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. German time) will be broadcast live on the WEC YouTube channel. Fans can only watch the qualifying session that follows via the paid WEC TV. Viewers from Germany can watch the 6-hour race on Sunday live on Eurosport 1 from 8:00 p.m. and live on Sport1 on free TV from 11:00 p.m.
WEC Austin 2024: Result 2nd practice (Top-10)
| Pos. | Team | driver | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
