As the chequered flag was waved to end the first track session of the weekend for the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola Francesco Castellacci crossed the line to post the fastest lap of the 60-minute session.
The Italian driver posted a 1m43.417 lap in the AF Corse Ferrari F488, 0.2 seconds quicker than Matteo Cressono in the BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 458 Italia and 0.5 seconds quicker than the GTC pole position time in last year’s ELMS race.
The session had to be red flagged after 30 minutes to enable marshals to recover and clear the track after the no5 FFF Racing Team by ACM Lamborghini of Fu Songyang clipped the tyre barrier at T13, leaving the Chinese drivers Huracan stuck in a bad position. The car was snatched by the marshals quickly and the session resumed.
The no88Mentos Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler looked set to take the top spot after the Austrian set a 1m43.909 lap with just 5 minutes to go on the clock but he ended up with the third fastest time as the two Ferraris surged ahead just before the chequered flag.
The no55 FFF Racing McLaren of Adrian Quaife-Hobbs and Hiroshi Hamaguchi was fourth quickest ahead of the no34 TF Sport Aston Martin of Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey.
The second Free Practice session will begin at 16h30 this afternoon.
Click here for the results of FP2
