Murphy Prototypes Quickest in First Practice at Imola

Photo: Murphy Prototypes

Murphy Prototypes led the way in opening practice at Imola, as European Le Mans Series teams prepare for Sunday’s Four Hours of Imola.

The No. 48 Oreca 03 Nissan of Karun Chandhok, Rodolfo Gonzalez and Nathanael Berthon topped the time charts with a best lap of 1:36.337, outpacing the No. 36 Signatech Alpine A450 Nissan of Paul-Loup Chatin, Nelson Panciatici and Oliver Webb by 0.356 seconds.

Jota Sport’s Zytek Z11SN Nissan was third on the time sheets, followed by Silverstone winners, and championship leaders, Thiret by TDS Racing with its Morgan-Nissan in fourth.

Both the GTE and GTC classes were led by SMP Racing Ferraris, with the No. 72 entry Andrea Bertolini, Viktor Shaitar and Sergey Zlobin quickest with a 1:41.649 lap.

GTC was paced by the Russian-backed squad’s No. 73 car of Olivier Beretta at the wheel.

Friday’s second and final practice sessions gets underway at 3:45 p.m. local time.

RESULTS: Practice 1

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John