Lapierre's Toyota fastest at The Prologue on his return to LMP1; TDS Racing ahead in LMP2

The second day of the FIA WEC's Prologue has come to an end in Italy, with the No. 8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID of Nicolas Lapierre setting the fastest time of the weekend during the fifth and final session on Sunday afternoon. 

It marked a successful conclusion to the WEC's official pre-season test at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, attended by thousands of enthusiastic Italian fans who turned out to watch the cars and meet the drivers in an autograph session (Sunday) and pitwalks (Saturday and Sunday).   

The highlights of the day were as follows: 

On his return to LMP1 with Toyota Gazoo Racing, Nicolas Lapierre set the fastest time of The Prologue in the final afternoon session. The Frenchman’s No.8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID set his best lap of 1m30.547s on his second lap, which remained unbeaten for the remainder of the session. 
Lapierre, who celebrated his 33rd birthday today, was 0.785 seconds faster than the best time set by team-mate Mike Conway in the No. 7 Toyota yesterday afternoon, with team-mate Anthony Davidson being the only other driver to lap under the 1m30s barrier. 
The two Porsche 919 Hybrids were third and fourth, with the top 4 cars separated by just 1.2 seconds. The ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01-Nismo did not run today following a mechanical issue yesterday.
In LMP2, Ho-Pin Tung’s No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA posted the fastest time of the afternoon session, 0.111 seconds ahead of Nelson Panciatici in the No.35 Signatech-Alpine A470-Gibson. 
The Chinese/Dutch driver’s time put him third fastest overall, behind the No.28 TDS Racing ORECA of Mathieu Vaxivière and the No.31 Vaillante Rebellion of Bruno Senna. 
However, the session was not without incident as the No.36 Signatech-Alpine of Matt Rao was caught out by a brief shower of rain at the first Lesmo and slid off track into the barriers.

All times from the test sessions can be found HERE

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Great competition ahead in LMGTE:  Porsche narrowly heads Ford at The Prologue 

In preparation for their attack on the new FIA World Endurance Championship for GT Drivers and Manufacturers, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Ford and Porsche took to the Autodromo Nazionale Monza track for two full days of testing to the delight of the Italian fans. The results promise some very close competition during the season ahead! 

Harry Tincknell topped LMGTE in the No.67 Ford with a 1m47.530s, narrowly ahead of team-mate Stefan Mücke in the No. 66 car. 
The Briton’s time placed him third overall in the test, behind Michael Christensen’s new for 2017 No.92 Porsche 911 RSR, which set a best lap of 1m47.379s on Saturday morning. 
Making its first appearance at an official WEC event, the mid-rear engined Porsche took first and second in class with Frédéric Makowiecki 0.136s behind. The top four cars in class were separated by two tenths of a second. 
In the LMGTE Am class, Matt Griffin’s No. 61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari 488 GTE was quickest in the afternoon session, 0.205 seconds ahead of the No. 54 Spirit of Race Ferrari driven by Miguel Molina. 
However, WEC rookie Molina set the fastest time for the class overall, the only Am class driver to lap under the 1m50s bracket on Sunday morning. 

Next stop on the WEC calendar is the opening round of the 2017 season, the 6 Hours of Silverstone, which takes place at the home of British motor racing between 14-16 April. A festival of endurance and single-seater racing awaits fans – don’t miss a second of it!