6 Hours of Monza: Free Practice Session Highlights
Monza, Italy – Charles Milesi of the Alpine Endurance Team set the pace in the opening Free Practice session for the 6 Hours of Monza, clocking a fastest lap of 1:45.862 as track conditions improved towards the end of the session.
The 90-minute session was marked by wet conditions, impacting initial lap times. Robert Kubica of AF Corse led the early charge in his #83 Ferrari 499P, posting a time of 1:47.738, which temporarily placed him 2.017 seconds clear of the field.
As the track dried, Harry Tincknell of the Aston Martin THOR Team became the first to exceed Kubica’s time. The session culminated in a late flurry of activity, with Milesi and Tincknell exchanging fast laps until the chequered flag. Ye Yifei finished second in the #83 Ferrari, 0.401 seconds behind Milesi, with Tincknell’s #007 Aston Martin and Victor Martins’ #36 Alpine rounding out the top four.
The top five was completed by James Calado in the #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P. Notably, both Toyota Racing TR010 Hybrids, contenders for the championship, finished 11th and 14th.
In the LMGT3 category, Tom Fleming topped the timesheets in his #10 McLaren LMGT3 Evo with a best lap of 1:57.575. Giammarco Levorato in the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3 Evo was 0.330 seconds adrift, followed by Jonny Edgar’s #33 TF Sport Corvette.
However, the title-contending #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche faced difficulties, managing only three laps due to early session challenges. Multiple red flags interrupted the session, including incidents involving the #50 Ferrari, #20 BMW M Hybrid, and #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche.
Free Practice 2 is scheduled for today at 14:30 CEST, where teams will look to fine-tune their setups ahead of the race.
