The no34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca was the fastest of the 43 cars in the first practice session for the 4 Hours of Imola with Ollie Gray posting a 1m31.236, two tenths ahead of the no14 AO by TF Oreca with Robert Kubica setting a 1m31.440.
The no37 COOL Racing Oreca was third fastest with a 1m31.559 set by Malthe Jakobsen, with the no65 Panis Racing Oreca of Charles Milesi just 0.016s behind in 4th.
Ollie Gray’s time also over a second faster than the outright lap record at Imola, which was a1m32.269set by Alessio Rovera in qualifying for the 2022 race.
The top LMP2 Pro/Am car was the no20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca in 5thoverall, with Alex Quinn’s best lap of 1m31.575 nearly three tenths ahead of the 2nd fastest Pro/Am car, the championship leading no 20 Richard Mille by TDS Oreca of Gregoire Saucy in 10th overall.
Inter Europol Competition also led the way in the LMP3 category, with Kai Askey in the no88 Ligier setting a 1m39.110, just 0.057s ahead of the no31 Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier of Antoine Doquin. The no17 COOL Racing Ligier was third quickest with Manuel Espirito Santo’s lap 1m39.273 two tenths ahead of the leading Duqueine, the no3 DKR Engineering of Wyatt Brichacek.
The LMGT3 class was headed by a Ferrari, with the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 ahead of the pack with Daniel Serra setting a 1m42.386, just 0.018s in front of the no97 Grid Motorsport by TF Aston Martin Vantage driven by Lorcan Hanafin in 1m42.404.
A Porsche was third quickest, with the no60 Proton Competition 911 of Julien Andlauer finishing the session on 1m42.716, 0.014s ahead of the no50 Formula Racing Ferrari of the newly crowned 24 Hours of Le Mans Hypercar champion Nicklas Nielsen.
The second 90-minute Free Practice session of the 4 Hours of Imola weekend will take place at 10h05 on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying at 14h35.
CLICK HERE for the result from FP1
