The #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari led the way during practice for this weekend’s Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup event at Monza, putting the Italian manufacturer in front on home turf.
The Swiss squad’s Pro-Am entry produced a lap of 1m48.667s in the hands of Alessandro Pier Guidi, who shares the #11 machine with Michael Broniszewski. That put them just 0.098s clear of the #4 Black Falcon Mercedes of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Yelmer Buurmann, with the latter setting the German squad’s best time.
Sixth overall, and top of the Silver Cup classification, was the #54 Emil Frey Racing Jaguar, Alex Fontana setting the benchmark lap for the Swiss team. The Am Cup classification was also topped by a Ferrari, with Rinaldi Racing’s #488 effort emerging quickest.
Two manufacturers had new machinery on-track during the session. The #7 Bentley Team M-Sport entry was 17th quickest with the new-spec Continental GT3, while Nissan’s Team RJN-run #23 car was 26th fastest.
The 90-minute session was largely without incident, with two exceptions coming towards the end of running. There was a brief red flag period with 15 minutes remaining when the #25 Sainteloc-Audi spun exiting a chicane, while a slow car on-track during the closing seconds brought practice to an early conclusion.
Preparations for this tomorrow’s three-hour race continue this afternoon, with a 90-minute pre-qualifying sessions at 17.00. Qualifying itself takes place tomorrow at 09.45, with the main event beginning at 15.00.