Alpine starts fast in Monza WEC practice

Alpine Endurance Team's farewell WEC weekend got off to a flyer this morning, when Charles Milesi topped the opening Free Practice session for the 6 Hours of Monza on Friday morning, in wet conditions.

Milesi moved to the top of the time sheets in the closing moments of the 90-minute session, posting a 1m45.862s in the No. 35 A424 as a drying track prompted a flurry of late improvements throughout the field.

AF Corse’s Robert Kubica had been a regular fixture near the top of the times during the opening 35 minutes, setting a best time of 1m47.738s in the No. 83 Ferrari 499P to establish a 2.017s advantage over the rest of the field. However, after track conditions initially improved, grip levels deteriorated around that point in the session, leaving Kubica’s time unchallenged until the pace picked up again in the final 10 minutes.

Aston Martin THOR Team’s Harry Tincknell was the first driver to surpass the Pole’s benchmark, before trading the top spot with Alpine’s Milesi and Victor Martins through to the checkered flag.

Ye Yifei ultimately secured second in the No. 83 Ferrari, 0.401s behind Milesi, with Tincknell’s No. 007 Aston Martin and Martins’ No. 36 Alpine completing the top four.

The No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P of James Calado finished fifth, ahead of the No. 17 Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001, No. 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 and No. 50 Ferrari.

The No. 19 Genesis and No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R completed the top 10. The two title-contending Toyota Racing TR010 HYBRIDs ended the session in 11th and 14th respectively, with the No. 8 car leading the pair.

In LMGT3, Garage 59’s Tom Fleming improved on his final flying lap to claim the top spot in the No. 10 McLaren LMGT3 Evo. The Briton posted a 1m57.575s, beating the No. 88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3 Evo of Giammarco Levorato by 0.330s.

Jonny Edgar placed third in the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R, ahead of Parker Thompson’s No. 69 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo and Matteo Cressoni’s No. 79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3.

It was a challenging start to the weekend for the title-contending No. 92 The Bend Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo LMGT3, which completed just three laps during the session. Richard Lietz did not emerge until the closing moments, having completed only an installation lap during the opening 80 minutes.

The No. 83 Ferrari completed the most laps overall, with 38, while the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 led the mileage count in the LMGT3 class.

The No. 50 Ferrari triggered the first of three red flags when Antonio Fuoco stopped at Parabolica at the end of his out lap, interrupting the 90-minute session.

The second stoppage came shortly after the halfway point when Robin Frijns stopped at Ascari in the No. 20 BMW M Hybrid V8. Running was interrupted for a third time with 20 minutes remaining following an incident involving James Cottingham in the No. 91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche at Lesmo II.

Free Practice 2 at Monza is scheduled to get underway at 2:30pm local time.

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