Kubica Leads Ferrari 1-2 in Final COTA Practice

Photo: MPS Agency

Robert Kubica led a Ferrari 1-2 in the third and final Free Practice session ahead of the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Circuit of The Americas.

The Polish racer steered the No. 83 Ferrari 499P to a best lap of 1:51.967, 0.190 seconds clear of the No. 50 machine in the hands of Nicklas Nielsen.

Charles Milesi was third in the No. 35 Alpine A424, followed by Earl Bamber’s No. 38 Cadillac V-Series.R.

Antonio Giovinazzi rounded out the top five behind the wheel of the No. 50 Ferrari, with the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie sixth in the hands of Harry Tincknell.

The second Alpine slotted into seventh with Fred Makowiecki at the wheel as Kevin Estre picked up eighth in the No. 6 Porsche 963.

In the LMGT3 class, Ben Barker put Proton Competition atop the timesheets with a best lap of 2:05.947 in the No. 77 Ford Mustang GT3.

That allowed the Blue Oval to improve on Clemens Schmid’s previous class-topping effort by 0.273 seconds.

Schmid, driving the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3, had in turn moved ahead of Maxime Martin’s No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which ended the session third.

The 60-minute session was briefly interrupted by the No. 81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R stopping on track at Turn 6.

A number of other cars had spins, including the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Jose Maria Lopez, Tom Gamble’s No, 007 Aston Martin and the No. 60 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG driven by Andrew Gilbert.

Of note, the No. 10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo returned to the track after it missed much of Friday’s running in the wake of a crash during Free Practice 1.

Qualifying for Lone Star Le Mans is scheduled for 3 p.m. CST.

RESULTS: Free Practice 3

Source: Sports Car 365