Inter Europol’s Dillmann Fastest in Barcelona FP1

Photo: MPS Agency

Tom Dillmann set the pace for Inter Europol Competition in the first Free Practice session for the European Le Mans Series season opener at Barcelona.

The Frenchman steered the No. 43 Oreca 07 Gibson to a best lap of 1:29.333, outpacing the No. 9 Iron Lynx-Proton machine of Matteo Cairoli by 0.406 seconds.

Tom Blomqvist took third for CLX Pure Rxcing, with Genesis Magma Racing protege Mathys Jaubert fourth fastest at the wheel of the No. 18 IDEC Sport Oreca.

Reshad de Gerus rounded out the overall top five for Duqueine Team ahead of the No. 28 IDEC Sport entry of Job van Uitert, while Bent Viscaal led LMP2 Pro-Am and went seventh overall in the No. 77 Proton Competition Oreca.

The remainder of the overall top ten consisted of VDS Panis Racing’s Charles Milesi, the No. 24 Nielsen Racing Oreca of Filipe Albuquerque and United Autosports driver Gregoire Saucy.

Ligier runners, meanwhile, dominated proceedings in LMP3, with the top eight made up entirely by cars from the French manufacturer.

Adrien Closmenil went quickest at the wheel of the No. 17 CLX Motorsport Ligier JS 325 Toyota with a best effort of 1:37.536, 0.219 seconds quicker than Racing Spirit of Leman’s Marius Fossard.

Rik Koen was third for Team Virage, with the No. 68 M Racing and No. 15 RLR M Sport entries of Quentin Antonel and Gillian Henrion fourth and fifth, respectively.

The best non-Ligier runner was the Wyatt Brichacek-driven No. 4 DKR Engineering Ginetta G61-LT-P325-Evo Toyota in ninth, one spot ahead of WTM by Rinaldi Racing’s No. 12 Duqueine D09 Toyota.

Riccardo Agostini led a Ferrari 1-2 in LMGT3, reeling off a 1:40.985 aboard the No. 50 Richard Mille AF Corse 296 GT3, 0.198 seconds faster than the No. 57 Kessel Racing entry of Davide Rigon.

Alessio Picariello slotted into third in the No. 60 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R, ahead of Iron Lynx’s Fabian Schiller in the No. 60 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

The 90-minute session was only interrupted by a single, three-minute red flag in the final fifteen minutes.

The second Free Practice session for the 4 Hours of Barcelona is scheduled for Saturday at 10:10 a.m. CEST (04:10 a.m. EDT).