After a delayed start to the session, the no7 Toyota made the early running in Shanghai with Mike Conway setting the fastest lap of 1m47.182 in Free Practice 1.  The no1 Porsche 919 hybrid was second quickest, with Nick Tandy’s lap of 1m47.414 being just 0.232s off the Toyota’s best time. The championship leaders in the no2 Porsche were third quickest, 0.455s off the pace and the 6 Hours of Fuji winners in the no8 Toyota TS050 fourth quickest 0.741s behind.

Ford were the fastest of the four GTE manufacturers with the no66 Ford GT of Stefan Mucke setting a 2m02.693 lap, nearly half a second ahead of the no97 Aston Martin Vantage after Darren Turner set a 2m03.181 lap of the 5.4km Shanghai International Circuit.  The no91 Porsche 911 was third fastest with a 2m03.191.  The championship leading no51 Ferrari was 7th fastest, with Alessandro Pier Guidi setting a 2m03.642.

The no13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca-Gibson was the fastest LMP2 car in the opening session of the 6 Hours of Shanghai with Mathias Beche posting a 1m52.533, 0.6 seconds ahead of the rest of the field with the no26 G-Drive Racing Oreca in second after Nico Muller set a 1m53.154 lap time.

The no54 Spirit of Race Ferrari travels to China after taking a debut victory in Japan and Miguel Molina set the early pace in the LMGTE Am category with a 2m04.789.  The no77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche was second fastest with Matteo Cairoli setting a 2m05.165, with the no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage third quickest with a 2m05.556.

Free Practice 2 will take place at 15h30 (local) / 08h30 CET