Jousse leads the way in Imola
Tobias Hegewald and Mirko Bortolotti were close behind
Julien Jousse set the quickest time during the opening free
practice session in Imola today (Friday) after trading times
with Tobias Hegewald.
Both drivers dipped under the 1:40s bracket and were later
joined by Mirko Bortolotti - the Italian ended up third at
his home circuit.
The circuit was very slippery during the session as drivers
took things steady in the early stages. Nicola De Marco made
the early running, before being pipped by Mirko Bortlotti.
As De Marco tried to respond, the Italian spun at
the Rivazza. He was able to continue however, but Tobias
Hegewald had to take avoiding action across the
gravel.
Hegewald instantly wiped that lost lap from his memory and set a
scorching pace under the Italian sun on his very next tour of the
historical circuit. It was a low 1.40s time from the 20-year-old
and it set up a fascinating duel with Jousse. The Frenchman
immediately bettered Hegewald's time and then looked like
lowering the benchmark even further, until a poor final
sector ruined his next flying lap. He did get it right
the next time around and Jousse set a fantastic 1:24.496s lap time
- more than four tenths faster than any other driver.
"This is my first visit to Imola and I like it very much," said
Jousse. "The circuit is really impressive and the session went
well, but I will have to keep improving as the circuit will get
quicker and quicker as the weekend progresses."
Bortolotti set his time to take third from Mikhail Aleshin just
as a red flag was thrown. Jens Höing had seemingly pulled
off at Tamburello, but was unable to move his car, which was now
stranded in a dangerous position. With the clock continuing to tick
down, the session was restarted with just over one minute
remaining but drivers were unable to set another quick
lap.
Aleshin held on to fourth ahead of Kazim Vasiliauskas and
Miloš Pavlović respectively. Robert Wickens and
championship leader Andy Soucek were only seventh and ninth, whilst
Armaan Ebrahim impressively rounded out the top ten.
It was a mixed session for some of F2's British drivers as
Tom Gladdis, Alex Brundle and Jason Moore all experienced
differing fortunes. Gladdis put in a star performance to set
the eighth fastest time - the youngest driver in the Formula
Two field continues to show good progress in his maiden season of
international racing.
Brundle recovered from a spin but could only manage 20th
fastest, whilst Jason Moore was unable to take part in the session.
The Englishman is still waiting to be passed fit by the
FIA doctor after he fractured two bones in his hand during an
accident at Oschersleben. Moore is likely to take part from free
practice two onwards.
Free Practice One - Imola - Provisional
Classification:
1. Julien Jousse, 1:39.496s
2. Tobias Hegewald, +0.419s
3. Mirko Bortolotti, +0.447s
4. Mikhail Aleshin, +0.733s
5. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +0.788s
6. Milos Pavlovic, +0.867s
7. Robert Wickens, +1.048s
8. Tom Gladdis, +1.153s
9. Andy Soucek, +1.269s
10. Armaan Ebrahim, +1.337s
Click here to download the
full classification