Harry Tincknell propelled Aston Martin and the Heart of Racing Team to the summit in the second practice ahead of this weekend’s Barcelona round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The British driver posted the day’s fastest lap at the Spanish venue, recording a 1:31.712 during a clean 90-minute session on Friday afternoon, beating AF Corse Ferrari’s Robert Kubica and his FP1 best of 1:31.891.
Mathys Jaubert of Genesis Magma Racing came within 0.038 seconds of leading the session while driving the No. 17 GMR-001, whereas Kubica finished third in the No. 83 Ferrari 499P, a further 0.046 seconds behind.
The sole other driver to go faster than Kubica’s morning best was Will Stevens in the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, fourth, as Barcelona’s pronounced tire wear meant the quickest laps came in the opening minutes.
Completing the top five was Nyck de Vries in the No. 7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid.
Both Cadillac V-Series.Rs finished inside the top six, with Jack Aitken sixth in the No. 38, ahead of the leading works Ferrari, the No. 50 driven by Antonio Fuoco, and the championship-leading No. 8 Toyota piloted by Ryo Hirakawa.
BMW’s leading M Hybrid V8, the No. 15 driven by Dries Vanthoor and the second Aston Martin Valkyrie, the No. 009 car steered by local driver Alex Riberas, filled the remaining positions in the top ten.
Peugeot sat 11th with its lead 9X8 under Theo Pourchaire, while Alpine’s run was modest with its two A424s placed 15th and 16th, headed by Charles Milesi in the No. 35 machine.
In LMGT3, Finn Gehrsitz posted the fastest lap in the No. 58 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo with a 1:41.650, roughly 0.200s off Alessio Rovera’s best in the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo earlier.
Runner-up was Hadrien David in the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 Evo on a 1:41.994, with Lin Hodenius next in the No. 79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Zacharie Robichon was a late improver, climbing to fourth in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, pushing Parker Thompson’s No. 69 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO to fifth.
The final practice for the 6H Barcelona is scheduled for Saturday, with LMGT3 cars on first at 8:50 a.m. local time (2:50 a.m. EST) and Hypercar to follow after LMGT3 qualifying at 12:40 p.m. (6:40 a.m. EST).
