Rovera Quickest in Misano Free Practice

Alessio Rovera set the pace in the opening Free Practice session ahead of the third round of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup season at Misano.

The Italian steered the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 to a best lap of 1:32.467 during the 90-minute session on Friday afternoon.

In the process, he outpaced the No. 9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Maxime Martin by 0.307 seconds, while Dennis Marschall led Bronze Cup and took third overall in the No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari he shares with Dustin Blattner.

The second AF Corse Ferrari, driven by Arthur Leclerc, slotted into fourth while Valentino Rossi completed the overall top five.

The nine-time motorcycle world champion, seeking an overall win at Misano for the third year in a row, set an early benchmark time aboard the No. 46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO before filtering down to fifth.

He remained ahead of Al Faisal Al Zubair’s No. 777 Al Manar Racing by WRT BMW as well as the No. 99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, which led Gold and Silver Cup, respectively.

The No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 was eighth, with the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG and No. 32 Team WRT BMW rounding out the top ten.

The session ran largely uninterrupted, with the exception of a brief red flag triggered by the No. 270 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Ricardo Baptista.

The field at Misano has been reduced to 43 cars, as the No. 24 Steller Motorsport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R has been withdrawn.

On-track action continues with Pre-Qualifying, which is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. CEST (1:20 p.m. EST).

RESULTS: Free Practice