Ehrlacher, ARC Bratislava Quickest in Friday Dubai Practice

Photo: Asian Le Mans Series

Yann Ehrlacher set the fastest lap of the day for ARC Bratislava across Friday’s two 90-minute Free Practice sessions for the 4 Hours of Dubai.

Ehrlacher completed a 1:48.418 lap in the No. 44 Oreca 07 Gibson in the opening minutes of the FP2. Ehrlacher was 0.245 seconds faster than newly-minted McLaren United AS Hypercar driver Mikkel Jensen in the No. 5 United Autosports entry.

The fastest three laps of the day in LMP2 were set in the afternoon FP2 session as James Allen in the No. 30 RD Limited Oreca took the third fastest lap. Alex Quinn set the fourth fastest time, topping the FP1 session in the No.46 Nielsen Racing entry.

Giorgio Roda was fifth fastest in the same No. 5 United Autosports machine that he shares with Jensen, with Antonio Fuoco in the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Oreca behind him.

Mattheo Quintarelli topped the LMP3 timesheets in both practice sessions, setting the fastest lap of the day in FP2 with a 1:57.399 in the 23Events Racing Ligier JS P325 Toyota. The Italian was 0.582 seconds ahead of Callum Voisin in the No.94 High Class Racing entry.

Luciano Morano was third fastest for the No. 29 Forestier Racing by VPS car, followed by Julien Gerbi in the No.1 Team Virage Ligier.

In the GT category, the top four fastest laps were all set in FP1. The fastest lap went to Klaus Bachler in the No. 10 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R with the only sub-two-minute lap of the day. His 1:59.997 lap time was 0.010 seconds faster than Fabian Schiller in the No. 9 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Fresh from his overall victory at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Laurin Heinrich was third fastest on Friday in the No.87 Origine Motorsport Porsche. Dennis Marschall in the No.47 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 made up the top four.

Qualifying for both of this weekend’s four-hour races is scheduled for Saturday at 9:40 a.m. local time (12:40 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Free Practice 1/Free Practice 2 

Finlay Ringer

Finlay Ringer is a freelance motorsport journalist covering the 24H Series for Sportscar365. He is also a journalism student at City St George's, University of London, and has contributed to publications such as The Race and Autocar.