Sato Fastest on Second Day as Barcelona Prologue Wraps Up
Photo: MPS Agency
United Autosports driver Marino Sato set the pace during the second and final day of the European Le Mans Series Prologue at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Sato steered the No. 21 Oreca 07 Gibson to a best lap of 1:29.319, also leading the LMP2 Pro-Am ranks in the process.
Filipe Albuquerque was second aboard the No. 24 Nielsen Racing Oreca, 0.458 seconds off the Japanese driver’s time.
Sato and Albuquerque both set their times during the four-hour morning session, although neither driver managed to get below the 1:28.808 that Inter Europol Competition driver Luca Ghiotto set to top the opening day of running on Monday.
A similar scenario unfolded across all of the other classes, with no times set on Tuesday eclipsing those set the previous day.
Charles Milesi set the third-fastest overall Tuesday time aboard the No. 48 VDS Panis Racing Oreca with a 1:29.882, with which he went quickest during the final, three-hour session during the afternoon.
Mathys Jaubert slotted into fourth in the Genesis Magma Racing-liveried No. 18 IDEC Sport Oreca, with Thomas Laurent completing the overall top five for DKR Engineering.
LMP3 was led by the No. 17 CLX Motorsport Ligier JS P325 Toyota piloted by Adrien Closmenil, who reeled off a 1:37.180 to outpace the No. 8 Team Virage-entered example of Daniel Nogales.
Ian Aguilera took third fourth for Eurointernational, ahead of the No. 12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine D09 Toyota in the hands of Griffin Peebles.
Ferrari runners, meanwhile, dominated the LMGT3 class during the final day of running, with four of the cars in the top five representing the Prancing Horse.
Thomas Fleming led the way aboard the No. 86 GR Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, setting a 1:41.273 that was 0.242 seconds faster than fellow Silver-rated driver Ben Tuck aboard the No. 57 Kessel Racing machine.
Gianmaria Bruni was third for JMW Motorsport, with Davide Rigon setting a 1:41.817 in the afternoon to go fourth quickest across the day.
Michelle Gatting was the first non-Ferrari runner in the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R, setting a 1:41.928 that narrowly outpaced Alessio Picariello’s best effort in Proton Competition’s No. 60 Porsche.
With Prologue running completed, teams will now turn their attention towards the opening Free Practice session for the season-opening 4 Hours of Barcelona, which starts Friday at 11:50 a.m. CEST (5:50 a.m. EDT).
Source: Sports Car 365