MOTORSPORT – Ferrari and Alpine took turns topping the timesheet yesterday in the first two free practice sessions of the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – the second round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
Ferrari AF Corse’s #50 499P Hypercar set the overall pace in the opening free practice of the day, held in the morning at the famous Belgian track.
Alpine Endurance Team then enjoyed an impressive one-two to top the overall times in the second session during the afternoon, with their #36 A424 Hypercar leading the #35 counterpart.
The 35-car WEC field now heads to a third free practice today in Spa, scheduled for an 11.10am start.
Qualifying, including Hyperpole, will then take place from 3.30pm, setting the grid for tomorrow’s six-hour spectacle, which is scheduled to flag off at 3pm.
All times are Bahrain.
Ferrari’s #50 crew of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen registered a fastest lap of two minutes 02.955 seconds to top the free practice one classification yesterday while completing 38 laps of running.
They were 0.564 seconds quicker than Aston Martin Thor Team’s #009 pairing of Alex Riberas and Marco Sorensen, who shared the duties behind the wheel of their Valkyrie Hypercar.
Taking third were Alpine’s #36 trio of Frederic Makowiecki, Jules Gounon, and Victor Martins, who were 0.568s off the pace.
Leading the pack amongst the LMGT3 runners were Racing Team Turkey by TF’s #34 Corvette Z06 LMGT3 Evo, driven by Peter Dempsey, Salih Yoluc, and Charlie Eastwood, who set a quickest time of 2:18.034 with 32 laps completed.
They were 0.366s ahead of Vista AF Corse’s #21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo, with Francois Heriau, Simon Mann, and Alessio Rovera behind the wheel.
Garage 59’s #10 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo driven by Antares Au, Thomas Fleming, and Marvin Kirchhofer followed in third 0.470s off the pace.
Meanwhile, in yesterday’s second free practice, Alpine’s #36 trio clocked a best overall mark of 2:01.816 and put in 30 laps of work.
They were 0.274s quicker than their teammates Antonio Felix da Costa, Charles Milesi, and Ferdinand Habsburg in the #35 A424 Hypercar, while third-best in the session were BMW M team WRT’s Robin Frijns, Rene Rast, Sheldon van der Linde, who were 0.363s from the leaders in their #20 M Hybrid V8.
In the LMGT3 class, Heart of Racing Team’s #23 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3, driven by Gray Newell, Eduardo Barrichello, and Jonny Adam set the pace with a best time of 2:17.769 while completing 29 laps.
A mere 0.202s back were Racing Team Turkey by TF’s #34 Corvette, while Iron Lynx’s #79 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 of Johannes Zelger, Matteo Cressoni, and Lin Hodenius were third 0.441s off the pace.
There are 17 Hypercars and 18 LMGT3 contenders hitting the track at Spa this weekend, representing the world’s biggest manufacturers, including Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Genesis, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Peugeot, Porsche, and Toyota.
The WEC’s 2026 season features eight rounds in all. Spa will be followed by the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans in France on June 13 and 14.
Stops will then be made at Interlagos in Brazil on July 12, at Austin in the US on September 6, and at Fuji in Japan on September 27, before the WEC arrives in the Gulf.
The campaign’s penultimate meeting, the rescheduled Qatar 1,812km, will then take place on October 24, leading up to the WEC’s 2026 finale, the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, scheduled for November 6 and 7 at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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