ARC Bratislava was quickest in Free Practice 2 at the Dubai Autodrome this evening, thanks to an early flyer from reigning TCR World Tour champion Yann Ehrlacher.
10 minutes into the 90-minute session, the Frenchman set the fastest lap of the weekend so far aboard the #44 ORECA 07 – Gibson, a 1:48.418, which at that moment put him over one second clear of the rest of the field.
A short spell of quick times, a few minutes later, from United Autosports’ Mikkel Jensen and RD Limited’s James Allen, saw Ehrlacher’s advantage subsequently reduced, although this pair were the only drivers to close within one second of the ARC Bratislava entry.
Jensen’s best time aboard United’s #5 ORECA, a 1:48.663, put the Dane 0.245 seconds behind Ehrlacher, with Allen’s #30 ORECA a further 0.262 seconds back in third.
Antonio Fuoco was fourth fastest in the #47 Cetilar Racing ORECA, ahead of the #3 DKR Engineering and #64 Nielsen Racing entries.
In LMP3, Matteo Quintarelli was again fastest aboard the #23 23Events Racing Ligier JS P325 – Toyota, with the Italian setting a 1:58.467 late on.
This bested longtime leader Paul Lanchere by just 0.019 seconds, with Lanchere holding on to second aboard CLX Motorsport’s #17 Ligier JS P325, despite Quintarelli’s teammate Matus Ryba also improving in the closing minutes.
Ryba ended up third in 23Events Racing’s #71 Ligier, ahead of the #85 R-ace GP Duqueine D09 and #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier.
And in GT, Giacomo Petrobelli topped the times in the #56 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo.
Petrobelli set a 2:00.627 inside the opening 15 minutes, comfortably displacing the #59 United Autosports McLaren GT3 Evo of early leader Andrey Mukovoz.
Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi ended up second in the QMMF-backed #37 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, 0.169 seconds off Petrobelli’s time, with Steven Jans third in GetSpeed’s #9 Mercedes-AMG. Notably, the top three cars in GT all had their fastest times set by their Bronze-rated drivers, who will be required to drive in qualifying.
A pair of Ferrari 296 GT3s, the #74 Kessel Racing and #50 Amerasian Fragrance by AF Racing entries, ended up fourth and fifth, respectively.
FP2 ran without interruption, with all 46 cars completing at least 30 laps of the Dubai Autodrome circuit.
Qualifying for Round 2 of the Asian Le Mans Series will take place at 9:40 GST (5:40 UTC) tomorrow, ahead of Race 1 at 14:10 GST.
