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Imola, FP 1: First blood to Peugeot!

The first free practice session turned in Peugeot’s favour

By Franck Drui

1 July 2011 - 17:02

Nineteen days after the finish of the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Imola 6 Hours saw battle rejoined in the Le Mans Series between the main endurance teams. The first free practice session turned in Peugeot’s favour in front of its main rival, Audi.

The No. 7 Peugeot 908 in the hands of Anthony Davidson (Peugeot Sport Total), paired up with Sébastien Bourdais, set the first benchmark time in the first free practice session on the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in 1m 34.227s. Just 496/1000s in arrears came the no. 1 Audi R 18 TDI (Audi Sport Joest). Their respective team-mates were not far behind thanks to Stéphane Sarrazin (no. 8 Peugeot 908) and Tom Kristensen (No.2 Audi R18 TDI).

Behind the four diesel-powered cars came Emmanuel Collard (no. 16 Pescarolo Team Pescarolo-Judd) in fifth spot ahead of Guillaume Moreau (no. 15 OAK Racing OAK Pescarolo-Judd) and Nicolas Prost/Neel Jani (no. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60-Toyota coupe.

In LM P2, Nicolas de Crem and Dominik Kraihamer (no. 45 Boutsen Energy Racing Oreca 03-Nissan) were quickest in 1m 39.785s from Mathias Beche, Pierre Thiret and Jody Firth (no. 46 TDS Racing Oreca 03-Nissan).

Jens Petersen, Elton Julian and Christian Zugel (Genoa Racing) and John Hartshorne, Steave Keating and Phil Keen (Neil Garner Motorsport) were the two front-runners in Formula Le Mans ahead of the quickest LM GTEs.

In LM GTE Pro, Giancarlo Fisichella delighted his many fans by setting the best time in his no. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia in 1m 46.028s from the team’s other F458 (no. 71) driven by Toni Vilander and Jaime Melo, and the 2 BMW Motorsport M3s with no. 56 leading no. 55.

In LM GTE Am, Ferrari also dominated with the Krohn Racing and AF Corse F430s beating the no. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 RSR.

Pos	#	Team	Driver	Car	Cat	Time	Gap
1	7	Peugeot Sport Total	S. Bourdais/A. Davidson	Peugeot 908	LM P1	1:34.227
2	1	Audi Sport Team Joest	T. Bernhard/M. Fassler	Audi R18 TDI	LM P1	1:34.723	+0.496
3	8	Peugeot Sport Total	F. Montagny/S. Sarrazin	Peugeot 908	LM P1	1:35.102	+0.875
4	2	Audi Sport Team Joest	T. Kristensen/A. McNish	Audi R18 TDI	LM P1	1:36.143	+1.916
5	16	Pescarolo Team	E. Collard/C. Tinseau/J. Jousse	Pescarolo - Judd	LM P1	1:37.870	+3.643
6	15	Oak Racing	P. Ragues/G. Moreau	Oak Pescarolo - Judd	LM P1	1:37.898	+3.671
7	12	Rebellion Racing	N. Jani/N. Prost	Lola B10/60 Coupe - Toyota	LM P1	1:38.188	+3.961
8	23	MIK Corse	M. Cortes/F. Geri/G. Piccini	Zytek 09	LM P1	1:38.269	+4.042
9	13	Rebellion Racing	A. Belicchi/J. Boullion	Lola B10/60 Coupe - Toyota	LM P1	1:38.958	+4.731
10	45	Boutsen Energy Racing	D. Kraihamer/N. De Crem	Oreca 03 - Nissan	LM P2	1:39.795	+5.568
11	46	TDS Racing	M. Beche/P. Thiriet/J. Firth	Oreca 03 - Nissan	LM P2	1:40.501	+6.274
12	39	Pecom Racing	L. Perez-Companc/M. Russo/P. Kaffer	Lola B11/40 - Judd	LM P2	1:40.569	+6.342
13	41	Greaves Motorsport	K. Ojjeh/O. Lombard/T. Kimber-Smith	Zytek Z11SN - Nissan	LM P2	1:41.345	+7.118
14	49	Oak Racing	J. Nicolet/A. Premat	Oak Pescarolo - Judd	LM P2	1:41.360	+7.133
15	42	Strakka Racing	N. Leventis/D. Watts/J. Kane	HPD ARX -01d	LM P2	1:41.683	+7.456
16	26	Signatech Nissan	F. Mailleux/L. Ordoñez/S. Ayari	Oreca 03 - Nissan	LM P2	1:41.892	+7.665
17	33	Level 5 Motorsports	S. Tucker/C. Bouchut/J. Barbosa	Lola Coupe - HPD	LM P2	1:42.073	+7.846
18	40	Race Performance	M. Frey/R. Meichtry/M. Rostan	Oreca 03 - Judd	LM P2	1:42.323	+8.096
19	43	RLR Msport	B. Gates/R. Garofall/S. Phillips	MG Lola EX265 - Judd	LM P2	1:42.804	+8.577
20	44	Extreme Limite AM Paris	F. Rosier/M. Basso	Norma M200P - Judd	LM P2	1:43.547	+9.320
21	36	RML	T. Erdos/M. Newton/B. Collins	HPD ARX -01d	LM P2	1:43.993	+9.766
22	35	Oak Racing	A. Barlesi/F. Da Rocha/P. Lafargue	Oak Pescarolo - Judd	LM P2	1:44.399	+10.172
23	93	Genoa Racing	E. Julian/C. Zugel/J. Petersen	FLM - Oreca - 09	FLM	1:45.451	+11.224
24	92	Neil Garner Motorsport	J. Hartshorne/S. Keating/P. Keen	FLM - Oreca - 09	FLM	1:45.767	+11.540
25	51	AF Corse	G. Fisichella/G. Bruni	Ferrari F458 Italia	LM GTE Pro	1:46.028	+11.801
26	71	AF Corse	J. Melo/T. Vilander	Ferrari F458 Italia	LM GTE Pro	1:46.489	+12.262
27	56	BMW Motorsport	D. Werner/P. Lamy	BMW M3	LM GTE Pro	1:46.881	+12.654
28	55	BMW Motorsport	A. Farfus/J. Muller	BMW M3	LM GTE Pro	1:46.945	+12.718
29	95	Pegasus Racing	M. Schultis/P. Simon/J. Schell	FLM - Oreca - 09	FLM	1:47.105	+12.878
30	77	Team Felbermayr - Proton	M. Lieb/R. Lietz	Porsche 911 RSR (997)	LM GTE Pro	1:47.109	+12.882
31	75	Prospeed Competition	M. Goossens/M. Holzer	Porsche 911 RSR (997)	LM GTE Pro	1:47.199	+12.972
32	59	Luxury Racing	S. Ortelli/F. Makowiecki	Ferrari F458 Italia	LM GTE Pro	1:47.257	+13.030
33	99	JMB Racing	C. Ducote/K. Marcelli/N. Marroc	FLM - Oreca - 09	FLM	1:47.342	+13.115
34	89	Hankook Team Farmbacher	D. Farnbacher/A. Simonsen	Ferrari F458 Italia	LM GTE Pro	1:47.766	+13.539
35	79	Jota	S. Dolan/S. Hancock	Aston Martin Vantage	LM GTE Pro	1:47.800	+13.573
36	57	Krohn Racing	T. Krohn/N. Jonsson/M. Rugolo	Ferrari F430	LM GTE Am	1:47.871	+13.644
37	66	JMW Motorsport	R. Bell/J. Walker	Ferrari F458 Italia	LM GTE Pro	1:47.941	+13.714
38	76	IMSA Performance Matmut	P. Pilet/W. Henzler	Porsche 911 RSR (997)	LM GTE Pro	1:47.964	+13.737
39	91	Hope Racing	L. Moro/S. Zhang/T. Graves	FLM - Oreca - 09	FLM	1:47.970	+13.743
40	61	AF Corse	P. Perazzini/M. Cioci/S. Lemeret	Ferrari F430	LM GTE Am	1:48.263	+14.036
41	67	IMSA Performance Matmut	N. Armindo/R. Narac	Porsche 911 RSR (997)	LM GTE Am	1:48.484	+14.257
42	58	Luxury Racing	A. Beltoise/F. Jakubowski/R. Firman	Ferrari F458 Italia	LM GTE Pro	1:48.857	+14.630
43	82	CRS Racing	K. Hummel/A. Christodoulou/P. Quaife	Ferrari F430	LM GTE Am	1:48.939	+14.712
44	50	Larbre Competition	P. Bornhauser/J. Canal/G. Gardel	Corvette C6-ZR1	LM GTE Am	1:49.342	+15.115
45	63	Proton Competition	P. Long/G. Roda	Porsche 911 RSR (997)	LM GTE Am	1:50.125	+15.898
46	88	Team Felbermayr-Proton	C. Ried/H. Felbermayr Jr.	Porsche 911 RSR (997)	LM GTE Am	1:51.306	+17.079
47	62	CRS Racing	P. Ehret/S. Lynn/R. Wills	Ferrari F430	LM GTE Am	1:52.886	+18.659
48	64	Lotus Jetalliance	O. Slingerland/M. Rich/L. Lichtner-Hoyer	Lotus Evora	LM GTE Pro
49	65	Lotus Jetalliance	J. Rossiter/J. Mowlem/J. Hirschi	Lotus Evora	LM GTE Pro