Free practice: The HP Racing #23 and the #24 Orhès Racing atop the timesheet
The Monza Heat began this Friday, 9 July, with the 90-minute free practice session. Despite new entrants in the sport-prototype category, the #23 HP Racing by Monza Garage Ligier JS P4 driven by Jacopo Faccioni and Alessandro Cicognani set the pace with a lap of 1:58.392s. The third Les Deux Arbres entry, the #32 of the father and son duo of Patrick and Steve Zacchia, who competed in Barcelona, was second best at more than a second behind.
Just like at Le Castellet, the #24 Orhès Racing Ligier JS2 R of Olivier Pernaut and Mathieu Martins was the quickest in the category with a lap of 2:01.169s. The #53 M Racing entry, with Natan Bihel at the controls, was one second behind, followed by the #4 COOL Racing machine of Cédric Oltramare, who slotted in third best despite a spin early on in the session, which brought out the yellow flag.
The practice session of another new entry for the 2021 season, the #27 24.7 Motorsport Ligier JS P4 driven by Andrew and Jeremy Ferguson, ended 25-minutes from the end after a spin at turn 8 which caused the session to be red-flagged.
Qualifying: Double pole position for M Racing, One apiece for HP Racing by Monza Garage and Les Deux Arbres
Session one of qualifying got underway at 2:40 pm. In the sports prototype category, the #23 Ligier JS P4 driven by Alessandro Cicognani claimed his fifth pole position of the season. His best time of 1:58.310s will see him lead the field at the start of race 1. The #34 Les Deux Arbres entry driven by Patrice Lafargue will start on the outside of row one, and the #32 sister car with Steve Zacchia will set off from third place on the grid.
In the GT category, the #53 M Racing Ligier JS2 R of Natan Bihel set the fastest time of 2:01.014s and will start from pole position. It was followed by the #24 Orhès Racing car driven by Mathieu Martins, less than a half-second behind, and the #95 CTF Performance car with Nicolas Beraud behind the wheel.
The field immediately moved on to the second qualifying session. Dimitri Enjalbert in the #34 Les Deux Arbres entry took the pole for race 2 in the Ligier JS P4 category in his first weekend in the Ligier European Series with a lap of 1:57.114s. Like his team-mate Patrice Lafargue, Dimitri is an old-hand in the sports prototypes and is doing a double programme this weekend, combining the Ligier European Series and the Michelin Le Mans Cup in the LMP3 category aboard a Ligier JS P320. Behind him, the #23 HP Racing by Monza Garage with Jacopo Faccioni at the wheel and the #33 Les Deux Arbres, driven by Jacques Nicolet.
A few weeks after the Le Castellet Heat, Silver driver Natan Bihel in the #53 M Racing Ligier JS2 R added a sixth pole position to his 2021 collection with the best time of 2:01.746s in session 2. Gentleman driver Laurent Millara in the #69 M Racing Ligier JS2 R finished second ahead of Oliver Pernaut in the #24 Orhès Racing machine.
Alessandro Cicognani: “I am delighted to claim my third pole position in a row. It’s a great honour to have taken pole position at home in Italy, on the track of Monza! I couldn’t ask for more. I have to say that the competition level is very high, so we have to be in control tomorrow and not make any mistakes”.
Natan Bihel: “It went pretty well. The first session was more complicated. There was a lot of traffic. At Monza, slipstreaming is a great deal, so I had to be in a good position without getting blocked. I was in a good position for the two qualifying sessions and it paid off. For tomorrow, I am quite confident. I’ll have to drive clean, consistent and not make any mistake to win”.
Dimitri Enjalbert: “Qualifying went very well. I thought it would be difficult to switch from the Ligier JS P320 to the Ligier JS P4, but it uses the same braking points. I am pleasantly surprised by the car. As a driving instructor, I work with many different cars and very often with gentlemen drivers, and I find that the Ligier JS P4 is a car that fits them perfectly for both enjoying themselves and competition. But as a professional driver, you also have a lot of fun. The times are very close between the gentlemen and the professional. Patrice set the second-fastest time in the first qualifying session, and I set the pole in the second. Tomorrow’s objective is: to have fun (that’s been the buzzword since I’ve been driving with Patrice and IDEC Sport), to finish the race, to get onto the podium, and why not win? I think it’s possible”.
