That #007 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie machine means business. During Friday afternoon's second 90-minute free practice session in preparation for Sunday's 6 Hours of Barcelona presented by Visit Qatar, it was Harry Tincknell who laid down the law, setting the pace in the car he shares with fellow Brit Tom Gamble under conditions similar to the morning's opening run.
The Aston Martin ace punched in a 1m31.712s lap early on, beating Robert Kubica's FP1 benchmark by 0.17s and edging out the second-placed #17 Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001 Hypercar by a mere 0.038 seconds. That Genesis entry, handled by André Lotterer, 'Pipo' Derani and Mathys Jaubert, kept the pressure right on the frontrunners.
AF Corse Ferrari stayed firmly in the mix with the yellow 499P Hypercar claiming third. Kubica peaked on a 1m31.796s, which meant the entire top three were blanketed by a scant 0.084s. Right behind them, Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA showed clear intent as the squad searches for its first win of the season, putting the #12 V-Series.R in fourth place with the returning Alex Lynn alongside team-mates Norman Nato and Will Stevens.
TOYOTA RACING rounded out a brilliant spread by making it five different manufacturers inside the top five, as the #7 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning TR010 Hybrid headed the second of the Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA Hypercars. Further down the order, the top ten filled out with the #50 Ferrari, the #8 Toyota, the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo-winning #15 BMW M Team WRT M Hybrid V8, and the #009 Aston Martin. Meanwhile, a tough session saw the title-challenging #20 BMW end up down in 14th position, while the Peugeot and Alpine entries also missed the top ten entirely.
Over in LMGT3, the #58 Garage 59 McLaren of Finn Gehrsitz, Alexander West and Benjamin Goethe showed formidable speed to top the times. Gehrsitz has bounced back strongly after a substantial accident cut short his 6 Hours of Fuji last month, clocking a best lap of 1m41.650s to sit 0.3s quicker than the nearest challenger.
That nearest threat came from the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F crew of Hadrien David, Esteban Masson and Tom Van Rompuy, following up their impressive FP1 run with second place. Third went to the #79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG entry, with Matteo Cressoni, Johannes Zelger and Lin Hodenius proving the three-pointed star is a package to watch this weekend.
Heart of Racing Team found a massive step forward in pace compared to the morning, putting the COTA-winning #27 Aston Martin Vantage in fourth spot on a 1m42.285s lap thanks to Ian James, Mattia Drudi and Zacharie Robichon. The Imola-winning #69 Team WRT BMW of Parker Thompson, Dan Harper and Anthony McIntosh grabbed fifth with a late lap, while the top six was completed by the second Akkodis ASP Team Lexus, steered by José María López.
It was a difficult outing for the Corvettes, however, as the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF and #33 TF Sport Z06 GT3.Rs slipped to 16th and 17th at the chequered flag. Competitors now look ahead to Saturday's final running, with LMGT3 FP3 scheduled for 08:50 local time (CEST) and Hypercar FP3 following at 12:40.
