Robert Shwartzman was the fastest in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) rookie test this Sunday. It was in the second session that the driver set the pace, with a lap time of 1m48.559s in the Ferrari #51.
Driving for just over 20 minutes, Shwartzman stopped the stopwatch at 1m48.559s on his best lap on a day when he made his debut in an LMH car. He outperformed the Porsche from Hertz Team JOTA by 0.571s, with Norman Nato behind the wheel. The Ferrari #51 also had Lilou Wadoux, who significantly improved between the two sessions and was the third fastest in the afternoon (fifth of the day), 0.929s behind his teammate.
In the overall standings of the two sessions, the second fastest was Will Stevens, who drove the Hertz Team JOTA Porsche in the morning and was the only one besides Shwartzman to lap in the 1m48s. He finished 66 milliseconds behind the Russian. The fourth-place finisher overall was Alex Lynn (Cadillac), thanks to a time set in the morning session. Among the rookies, after Shwartzman, Nato, and Wadoux, the fourth was René Binder, who took the Proton Porsche #99 to seventh place overall and third in the second session.
As for the LMP2 category, Clément Novalak set the pace in this test, thanks to a time set in the morning in the Inter Europol Competition Oreca #34. He edged out Charles Weerts (Team WRT/Oreca #46) by just 19 milliseconds, with the Belgian being the fastest in the afternoon. Valentino Rossi was also in his car and set the fourth fastest time overall ahead of Harry Tincknell (Prema/Oreca #9).
In the small LMGTE Am contingent, Richard Mille AF Corse took the lead, thanks to a time set by Lorenzo Patrese in the Ferrari #83. The Italian topped both sessions, was the only one to enter the 1m58s, and beat Nicky Catsburg (Corvette #33) by a clear 1.192s. Nicola Marinangeli was the third fastest of the day in the AF Corse Ferrari #54.
