Team Virage’s Théo Micouris was fastest across Free Practice ahead of this week’s Road to Le Mans races.
After Hadrien David led Free Practice 1 in the #85 R-Ace GP Duqueine, Micouris set the best time of the day in Free Practice 2 aboard the #16 Ligier.
Free Practice 1
Hadrien David was fastest in Free Practice 1 for Road to Le Mans in the #85 R-Ace GP Duqueine D09 – Toyota.
David set a 3:50.288 after the checkered flag waved, following a mid-session red flag that set up a two-lap run to the end of the 60-minute session.
Charles Roussanne was second in the #92 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier JS P325 – Toyota, with a 3:50.858, ahead of Forestier’s #29 entry of Louis Rousset.
Fourth was the #53 Bretton Racing Ligier of Marius Fossard, ahead of the #50 23Events Racing Ligier of Matteo Quintarelli and Valentino Catalano in the #70 Gerbhardt Motorsport Duqueine.
Leading LMP3 Pro/Am, in seventh overall, was the #84 ANS Motorsport Ligier of Paul Trojani with a 3:53.259. It was not a perfect session for Trojani, however, with the French driver getting stranded in a gravel trap shortly before the halfway mark.
The Top 10 was completed by a trio of entries fielded by Rinaldi Racing – the #71 Ligier, #12 Duqueine and #66 Ligier.
In GT3, it was an AF Corse 1-2, with Eliseo Donno in the #51 Ferrari 296 GT3 setting a 3:58.303 on his final flying lap to surpass Vincent Abril in the #52 entry.
The #65 Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Lukas Dunner was third, ahead of David Fumanelli aboard Kessel Racing’s #33 Ferrari.
The session was interrupted by a single Red Flag after multiple cars needed to be retrieved from the gravel.
There was also an incident on the cooldown lap post-session, which involved the Felbermayr-branded #77 Reiter Engineering Ligier.
Free Practice 2
Théo Micouris dominated Free Practice 2 for Road to Le Mans aboard Team Virage’s #16 Ligier JS P325 – Toyota.
Micouris set a 3:49.007 in the closing minutes of the hour-long session, claiming the top spot from his Team Virage stablemate Rik Koen. The British driver then improved further on his final flying lap, with a 3:48.582, the fastest time of the day.
Sergio Sette Camara was second fastest, albeit over a second off Micouris’ time, in the #43 Inter Europol Competition Ligier with a 3:49.787. The Brazilian driver was also quickest of those competing in LMP3 Pro-Am.
Koen ended up third aboard Virage’s #8 Ligier, ahead of the #29 Forestier Racing by VPS and #50 23Events Racing entries.
The #85 R-Ace GP Duqueine, which was fastest in Free Practice 1, completed the top six.
It was a promising showing from the Ginetta G61-LT-P325-Evo, with Thomas Laurent second in LMP3 Pro/Am in the #2 DKR Engineering entry thanks to a 3:52.151.
In GT3, Lukas Dunner was fastest in the #65 Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. The Austrian driver set a 3:56.834 to end the session 1.242 seconds clear of Vincent Abril in the #52 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. David Fumanelli completed the top three in the #33 Kessel Racing Ferrari.
The session ran without red flag interruption, although Slow Zones were deployed multiple times throughout the hour to deal with incidents.
56 cars took to the track, with both the #58 GG Classics and #77 Reiter Engineering Ligiers missing the session.
Notably, the LMP3 points-leading #87 CLX Motorsport Ligier of Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Alvise Rodella completed just four laps and failed to register a valid lap time.
Qualifying for Road to Le Mans takes place at 11:45 CEST tomorrow, ahead of the first race at 18:25 CEST.
Image courtesy of Ligier Automotive
