The first free practice session of the race meeting for the Michelin Le Mans Cup cars saw 40 cars on track, including the #24 H24 racing Hydrogen Fuel Cell car, slated to start its first race this weekend.
The car though disgraced itself very early in the session, stopping out on track in the hands of Norman Nato and failing to set a representative time.
The session was topped by Wayne Boyd in the #23 United Autosports Ligier, Boyd returning to Imola as one of a small number of drivers who raced here on the ELMS’s last visit in 2016 (see Wayne below in 2016 – a mere cherub! – along with the recently retired Steve ‘Doc’ Bunkhall.
His 1:38.607 was enough to put the #43 Racing Spirit of Leman into seconds slot, the two Ligiers topping a train of three Duqueines with Matt Bell (#4 Nielsen racing), Laurents Hörr (#3 DKR Engineering) and Daniel Keilwitz (#66 Rinaldi Racing) rounding out the top 5.
GT was topped by the #99 Bullitt Racing Aston Martin in the hands of Theo Nouet, a 1:42.078 over 1.5 seconds clear of th #61 AF Corse Ferrari of Andrea Montermini.
Fabio Babini completed the top three in the Ebimotors Porsche.
Haegeli by T2 To Complete Season – Basseng From Le Mans Onwards
The #13 Haegeli by T2 Racing Duqueine is confirmed as a fun-season effort, the team’s brand new Duqueine only delivered after Paul Ricard with some testing, though interrupted by some engine dramas which required rectification by both Duqueine and Oreca.
As reported yesterday Marc Basseng was listed to drive at the test, and indeed will be the Pro driver in the entry for the remainder of the season. Here at Imola, he is acting a team manager and race engineer (plus cooking and bottle washing duties!).
Surprisingly the Road to Le Mans support races will be the first appearance at Le Mans from Basseng in a racing career now approaching a quarter of a century!
Lars Kern meanwhile will race for the team in a couple of Ultimate Cup outings.
The team is set to expand to a second car on strength before the end of 2022 with a number of potential programmes under review.
