Pizzitola Fastest in Free Practice at Sepang

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Andrea Pizzitola set the fastest laptime in Free Practice for the Four Hours of Sepang, with a record of 1:55.896 early in the first session that remained unbeaten throughout Free Practice 1 and 2 on Saturday.

Pizzitola is driving the No. 25 Ligier JS P2 Nissan for Algarve Pro Racing alongside Aidan Read and Andrea Roda.

Thomas Laurent was the second-fastest driver on Saturday morning, going 0.216 seconds slower than Pizzitola in the championship-leading Jackie Chan DC Racing entry.

While Race Performance was third on the timesheets after FP1, the Swiss team led the way in the second session with a time of 1:56.224, following a more competitive session that saw Pizzitola challenge Race Performance’s Struan Moore and Fabien Schiller for the top spot.

Nevertheless, Moore was able to hold onto the lead following his best lap time that he set midway through the session, while Pizzitola had to settle for second-best.

Tockwith Motorsports led the LMP3 class in both sessions, with almost identical lap times from Nigel Moore, who set a 1:59.924 in the first session before going just 0.002 seconds slower in FP2.

Scott Andrews was second in class for Wineurasia, while the championship-leading No. 4 ARC Bratislava Ginetta was seventh in class in the combined standings.

In GT it was Tom Blomqvist who set the pace, in the No. 90 FIST-Team AAI BMW M6 GT3.

He set a time of 2:02.736, ahead of Michele Rugolo and Alessandro Pier Guidi who were second and third in the DH Racing and Team BBT Ferrari 488 GT3s.

With a time of 2:10.531 in FP1, Will Bamber was fastest in GT Cup for Team NZ. The sole PS Racing entry did not take to the track, and it is expected that the Ligier JS 53 will not take part in the weekend.

Qualifying is set for 5:15 p.m. local time.

RESULTS: Free Practice 1
RESULTS: Free Practice 2

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.