Photo: PSP Images

Thomas Biagi ahead of Liuzzi in first practice at Donington Park

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The two Romeo Ferraris Mercedes topped the time sheets during the first free practice session at Donington Park, with Thomas Biagi displacing his team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi during the final seconds of the session.

Liuzzi had set the benchmark in the first ten minutes of the session with a time of 1:35.339, whilst P2 became the hotly contested position at the British circuit.

With ten minutes remaining, BTCC regular Colin Turkington took the position in the Scuderia Giudici BMW M3 before he was shortly outpaced by Gianni Morbidelli in the Audi Sport Italia RS 5.

Francesco Sini then moved up into second position in the Solaris Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro, before Thomas Biagi moved up to second place, just 35-thousandths of a second behind his team-mate.

Biagi left his best lap to the last second however, going four-tenths of a second faster than Liuzzi as the chequered flag flew, with Sini finishing third and Turkington improving to finish fourth on his first appearance in the championship.

15 cars set timed laps in the session with 17 cars entered for the event. The Petri Corse team which has previously run the Porsche Panamera for Fabrizio Giovanardi has withdrawn from this meeting.

The second practice session takes place at 13:00 BST.