The #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 of Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci topped the times in the first ever practice session of the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup. A 1:43.417 at the end session set by Castellacci was quickest of the 11 cars that took part in the session that run under cloudy skies at Imola. The Italian’s time was also seven tenths quicker than last year’s GTC ELMS pole time around the circuit.
AF Corse is down to two cars for the event, with other last-minute commitments preventing Pierre-Marie De Leener from driving this weekend in the #14 car, which he was slated to run with Rui Aguas. The duo are still entered for the rest of the season though, DSC understands.
DSC was also told by Amarto Ferrari that his outfit will enter four cars for the Road To Le Mans race next month, with a second 488 making up the numbers.
Second in the session was the BMS Scudera Italia 458 of Matteo Cressoni, two tenths off leading 488. The Menthos Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R with Klaus Bachler setting its fastest time came in third on the screens after a 1:43.909.
The session didn’t run completely smoothly, despite all the teams that are due to start the race setting laps. Red flags had to be brought out halfway through the hour-long session, after Fu Songyang in the FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan hit the tyres at Turn 13, severely damaging the left-rear corner of the car.
Running did resume however and FFF Racing’s other entry in the series, the #55 McLaren 650S GT3 of Adrian Quiife-Hobbs and Felipe Barreiros had better fortunes, setting the fourth fastest lap time of the session, ahead of the TF Sport Aston which rounded out the top five.
