6 Hours of Sao Paulo – Free Practice 1: The Peugeot surprise at the end of a shortened session
The first free practice session was widely interrupted after the accident of the Lexus #78 from Akkodis team. Peugeot managed to stand out.
The conditions were not ideal at Interlagos. The first laps on the Brazilian circuit were done with great caution. The track was completely wet. The lap times reflect the caution of the drivers in the early laps.
The Peugeot #94 quickly showed an interesting pace with the second best time (1.32’471”), only seventy milliseconds behind the Porsche number 5. In the GT3 category, the Ferrari #55 from the Vista AF Corse team led the way ahead of the Corvette #82 from the TF Sport team. The American cars once again felt comfortable during the tests. But will it be the same during the race?
The drivers experienced a first session interruption after half an hour of driving. The race direction decided to deploy the virtual safety car. With no real danger on the track, this maneuver seemed more like a test.
Over the minutes, the track started to dry, the drivers then increased their pace. The Cadillac #2 then took the lead of the session. But the Peugeot #93 with Nico Müller on board convinced everyone. With a 1.26’341″, the Swiss driver was nearly two tenths faster than everyone else.
He was able to keep this reference for a long time. At 46 minutes from the end, the Akkodis #78 went off track at the fourth turn. Immediately, the race direction decided to display the red flag. The car was removed less than ten minutes before the checkered flag. But there was still a lot of work to be done. Therefore, the cars did not return to the track.
