Morning showers had left the Monza circuit thoroughly wet at the start of the first free practice session. Fortunately, the rain had ceased, and a dry line was developing quickly. With just over half an hour to go Alexander Hartvig, in the #22 Allied Porsche, was the first to break the two-minute barrier, quickly followed by some of his colleagues.
The lap times kept getting quicker, but with 15 minutes to go the session was red-flagged, after an off for the #13 Overdrive Racing Porsche. The recovery teams only needed a couple of minutes to bring the Porsche with the striking livery into safety, after which the fastest of the GT4 drivers could have a final go at some quick lap times.
Eventually, it was Benjamin Lariche in the #3 Team Speedcar Audi who set the fastest time, in 1’56.825. A last-gasp effort of Gabriele Piana put the #2 Hofor Racing BMW in second, a mere 54 thousandths of a second off the fastest time. Gael Castelli in the #111 CSA Racing Audi completed the top 3, both overall and in the Silver category.
The fastest of the Pro-Am cars, the #30 W&S Motorsport Porsche, ended up in fifth overall, with the #10 AVR-Avvatar Porsche (21st overall) claiming the top spot in the Am category. The second free practice session starts at 14.20 CEST on Friday afternoon.