Image: WEC
It looks as though we are on for a hard fought race between the Toyotas and Ferraris in the opening FIA World Endurance Championship race of the season, the 1000 Miles of Sebring.
The Ferrari 499P is a brand new car, making its race debut at Sebring, while the Toyota GR010 has been raced for two years, although it’s undergone modifications for this season.
Lap time analysis from the second free practice shows that the Toyotas and Ferraris have very similar race pace, all clocking in an average in the 1:49 or early 1:50 range on their longest runs in the practice session.
In actuality, the Ferraris, driven by Antonio Fuoco and Alessandro Pier Guidi had the slight edge over the Toyotas of Sebastien Buemi and Jose Maria Lopez on their longest runs — but this is by no means conclusive as we don’t know fuel loads, engine modes, or how hard the cars are pushing.
Behind this pair, the Cadillac was next fastest, in the mid 1:50s on average. Both Porsches ran in the 1:51 range on average over their longest stints with Michael Christiansen and Andre Lotterer on board.
The Peugeots were further back, in the 1:52 range as the 9X8 continues to struggle on a track not overly suited to the car’s unique design, and where Peugeot did not conduct any private testing in the weeks and months leading up to the race.
The Vanwall and Glickenhaus were, in free practice 2, bringing up the rear on their long runs, in the 1:53 range for both.
Finally, in terms of qualifying pace in free practice 3, the Toyotas had a clear gap over the rest of the field, with Kamui Kobayashi setting a 1:45.783 in the #7 Toyota. Ryo Hirakawa in the sister #8 Toyota was six tenths back, while Ferrari were just under a second off on one lap pace.
Keyword: WEC: Ferrari and Toyota equal on pace, Cadillac, Porsche, Peugeot behind