Ibañez and Joulié grab top spot in first Misano practice for NM Racing Team

Ibañez and Joulié grab top spot in first Misano practice for NM Racing Team

The pair led the way for virtually the entire session, with Ibañez’s early effort being enough to displace first Moritz Wiskirchen’s #44 Allied Racing Porsche and then Nico Verdonck’s #25 PROsport Aston Martin from the top of the times before handing across to Joulié.

Ibañez improved even further on his second run, putting the #15 Mercedes-AMG a huge seven tenths clear at the flag. Pro-Am championship leaders Jean Luc Beaubelique and Jim Pla claimed second in the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Mercedes-AMG, with Pla’s late best also setting the Pro-Am benchmark. 

A fine lap from Akhil Rabindra put the #19 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin he shares with Tom Canning third fastest overall, ahead of the #66 CMR Toyota GR Supra of Romain Monti/Antoine Potty. Eric Debard and Simon Gachet were fifth fastest overall and second in Pro-Am in their #81 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG. Silver Cup points leaders Gus Bowers and Konstantin Lachenauer were sixth overall in the #10 Racing Spirit of Léman Vantage.

W&S Motorsport’s Hendrik Still and Max Kronberg were seventh overall and third in the Pro-Am order after a strong session for the #38 Porsche 718 Cayman, just holding off Filip Vava/Jakub Knoll in the #51 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG.

In the Am class, W&S Motorsport’s Mikhail Loboda and Andrey Solukovtsev led the way aboard their #37 Porsche 718 Cayman. Markus Lungstrass had set the early pace in the #18 Team Spirit Racing Aston Martin before Loboda put the Porsche clear in 22nd place overall. Stanislav Safronov/Aleksandr Vaintrub were second in the #88 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG, with Benjamin and Mauro Ricci grabbing third in their Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG. Michael Blanchemain/Christophe Hamon were fourth in the Team Fullmotorsport Audi, with Massimiliano Tresoldi/Paolo Meloni completing the top five in the W&D Racing Team BMW M4. Am class leaders Wilfried Cazalbon and Julien Lambert sat out the session while the final repairs were being made to their #89 AGS Events Aston Martin after an accident during Thursday testing.

PROVISIONAL RESULT FREE PRACTICE 1 MISANO