IMSA European Le Mans Series: Imola Practice Insights
Imola, Italy—Ben Hanley led the charge in the first practice session of the European Le Mans Series at Imola, clocking a swift 1:31.878 in the United Autosports #22 ORECA. This competitive lap placed him over two-tenths clear of the nearest competitor.
Theo Pourchaire, a reserve driver for Peugeot, put the Algarve Pro Racing #25 ORECA in second with a time of 1:32.144, while Inter Europol’s Le Mans class-winning #43 secured third, just 0.369 seconds off Hanley’s pace. Proton’s #9 ORECA, which topped pre-event testing, finished fourth, followed by the #48 VDS Panis Racing entry in fifth.
In the LMP2 Pro/Am category, Mathias Beche set the benchmark with a 1:32.491 in the #29 TDS Racing ORECA, outperforming the #77 Proton entry by three tenths.
LMP3 saw WTM by Rinaldi’s Duqueine dominate, with Griffin Peebles registering a leading lap time of 1:39.787, while LMGT3 was led by TF Sport’s Corvette, driven by Charlie Eastwood, who notably recorded a session-best of 1:42.827.
The Corvette’s promising performance comes following recent Balance of Performance adjustments that favored several competitors, including the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage and the United Autosports McLaren, both of which received weight reductions.
AF Corse’s #51 Ferrari 296, driven by Davide Rigon, rounded out the top tier in LMGT3, followed closely by Kessel Racing’s #57 entry.
The session proceeded without major incidents aside from a brief five-minute Full-Course Yellow due to a minor off by the #8 Team Virage Ligier at Piratella.
Looking ahead, the day will continue with the Bronze Test, followed by Free Practice 2 scheduled for tomorrow at 10:50 local time.
Free Practice 1 Times are available for reference.
