Nakajima clocked a time of 3m21.656s in the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid in the dying stages of Thursday morning’s three-hour practice session, going three tenths quicker than his fellow Japanese stablemate Kazuki Nakajima in the #7 sister car.
Toyota stayed 1.5 seconds clear of main LMP1 rival Rebellion, with Norman Nato setting a time of 3m23.155 in the #1 Rebellion R-13.
Denmark’s High Class Racing topped LMP2 in the #33 ORECA 07, followed by Racing Team Nederland and JOTA.
Aston Martin’s #97 crew of Harry Tincknell, Maxime Martin and Alex Lynn was fastest in GTE Pro, with the British marque also topping GTE Am courtesy of Ross Gunn in the #98 Aston.
FP1, which was interrupted early on by a red flag for the stricken #89 Project 1 Porsche, is the first session of on-track action of a condensed race week schedule.
Following Thursday afternoon’s second free practice session, a 45-minute qualifying session will be held, the fastest six cars of each class advancing to Friday’s all-new Hyperpole shootout.
Full report to follow.
