Ghiotto Leads Inter Europol 1-2 on Prologue Day 1
0.001 seconds separate Inter Europol drivers Ghiotto, Dillmann in opening day at Barcelona...
Photo: MPS Agency
Luca Ghiotto narrowly led a Inter Europol Competition 1-2 across the opening day of the European Le Mans Series Prologue at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
A total of four sessions were held during the first of two Prologue days at the Spanish circuit, which is also the site of this weekend’s four-hour season opener.
Two collective, four-hour sessions formed the bulk of on-track running, with the day then capped off by two dedicated, 30-minute sessions – one for LMP2 and LMP2 Pro-Am contenders and one for LMP3 and LMGT3.
The majority of the day’s fastest LMP2 times came during that final session, which saw Ghiotto reel off a 1:28.808 aboard the No. 34 Oreca 07 Gibson.
Stablemate Tom Dillmann, piloting the No. 43 sister machine, was just 0.001 seconds slower in second place. Matthieu Vaxiviere took third in the No. 83 AF Corse Oreca, leading the Pro-Am ranks in the process.
Tom Blomqvist took fourth at the wheel of the No. 37 CLX Pure Rxcing machine he is set to share with Alex Malykhin and Tristan Vautier, with the top five completed by the No. 99 AO by TF machine of Louis Deletraz.
Deletraz topped the morning session with his best effort of 1:29.323, a time that stood until the flurry of improvements during the evening.
LMP3, meanwhile, saw the first official on-track running for the latest generation of class machinery, which are all powered by a twin-turbocharged Toyota V6 engine.
Quentin Antonel set the fastest time aboard the No. 68 M Racing Ligier JS P325 Toyota, reeling off a 1:36.827 during the 30-minute evening session to go quickest.
In the process, the Frenchman outpaced the No. 11 Eurointernational Ligier of Sebastian Gravlund, who had gone quickest with a 1:36.966 in the morning.
Rik Koen took third for Team Virage, ahead of the No. 17 CLX Motorsport Ligier piloted by Adrien Closmenil.
Finally, LMGT3 was the only session that saw the fastest time of the day not come from evening running, as Wayne Boyd steered the No. 23 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo to a 1:40.870 during the morning session.
Daniel Serra was second aboard the No. 57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, 0.681 seconds slower, as Ferrari runners made up the remainder of the top five.
Riccardo Agostini set the third-fastest time in the afternoon session at the wheel of the No. 50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari, with Riccardo Pier and Miguel Molina fourth and fifth for GR Racing and Kessel Racing, respectively.
Seven more hours are scheduled to wrap up the Prologue on Tuesday, with the four-hour morning session starting at 9 a.m. CEST (3 a.m. EST)
