Gianni Morbidelli leads Honda 1-2-3 in red flagged FP1
Gianni Morbidelli was fastest again in the first Free Practice session of the day in Monza, Italy. The home hero came home ahead of WestCoast Racing team-mates Igor Skuz and Kevin Gleason, completing a Honda 1-2-3. Despite using no slipstream, the Italian was some 1.5s quicker than Skuz.
Championship leader Stefano Comini had led most of the session, but slipped down to fourth once the Hondas set their best times towards the end of the session. The Swiss came home ahead of Target Competition team-mate Andrea Belicchi.
Liqui Moly Team Engstler, using only SEAT León Racers this weekend, put Mikhail Grachev in sixth ahead of team-mate Lorenzo Veglia. The Craft-Bamboo Lukoil trio completed the top ten, with Sergey Afanasyev ahead of Pepe Oriola and Jordi Gené.
A few minor offs happened during the session, including Zsoltan Szàbo spinning at Roggia and Pepe Oriola going straight at the Variante Ascari. The session was halted with less than 3 minutes remaining as Zengo Motorsport’s Davide Roda crashed heavily on the outside of Lesmo 2, landing on its roof in the process. The Italian driver emerged from his SEAT León Racer without a scratch.
Fernando Monje enjoyed a decent run of eight laps in his Campos Racing Opel Astra OPC, although performance is still lacking as he finished a distant thirteenth, whereas the Onyx-built Ford Focus came a distant last, with Tom Boardman more than 9 seconds off the pace.
Action will resume at 12.00 with Free Practice 2.
