Imola and the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia woke up under a blanket of clouds on the intense Saturday of the fourth round of the season. After yesterday’s free practice with Keagan Masters and Marvin Klein already ahead of everyone in an attempt to best set up a weekend that could bring them back close to the absent Larry Ten Voorde in the standings, the sun should return to the Santerno circuit in the morning (if it doesn’t do so by qualifying, it means that there could be ideal temperatures for a possible record lap).
International protagonists aside, however, the desire for redemption of the Italian “big” is great. It was difficult to predict at the beginning of the season, but the only one to have climbed onto the podium so far in the 2024 home single-make series is the rookie Francesco Braschi, super in his home debut at Misano in the night race 1 at the beginning of May.
While the Dinamic Motorsport driver didn’t try new tyres on Friday and was 14th fastest of the day, just 4 thousandths better than Gianmarco Quaresmini (16th with Tsunami RT), another highly anticipated name here in Imola (where he also won his first race in the Carrera Cup in 2017 and his first title the following year), Simone Iaquinta found his smile again after free practice.
Another two-time champion of the series, the driver from Prima Ghinzani obtained the third place, just a hair’s breadth from the leaders and above all would have the best ideal time (a tenth and a half faster than Masters’ top), looking at all the splits, in particular those he had set right on the last lap under the checkered flag.
He is, therefore, leading the Italian patrol, despite a difficult first part of the season (very unlucky right in Imola when a technical problem effectively excluded him from the battle for the front rows in qualifying). Maybe this time it will be the right one, because with all the necessary jinxes there is a bit of optimism in the home of the Lombard team.
“We did some tests with used tyres in view of the race – Iaquinta said – and they went well, then I did some fast laps and I have to say that I’m happy with the third fastest time. Let’s hope for the best, we just have to look forward hoping that finally something will turn in our favour”.
A thought also flies to last Sunday in Monza in the last Supercup: “I’m happy with the pace shown in qualifying on that occasion, then the race was affected by the chicane cuts made at the start by some rivals, not sanctioned, but the car is there. With the team we did a great job and also at Imola historically we have always been very fast. That’s why today we will return to the track confident. I feel ready for the challenge”.
And Aldo Festante, yesterday in the top-5 with Dinamic Motorsport, seems to be ready for the challenge: “Everything went well in free practice, even if the conditions weren’t ideal at the start. We had quite fresh Michelins having used the wild cards at Mugello, a bit of traffic at the end prevented us from putting everything together as I think happened to many others. The potential for qualifying is there”.
Just behind the Campania driver in the time list is Diego Bertonelli, who with The Driving Experiences must fully redeem the opportunity lost from the front rows at home at Mugello and makes an appointment for the qualifying: “We struggled in the first half of free practice, then we solved some problems and the car works, in the sense that the sixth time with a less than perfect setup means that the car is strong. Now let’s see what happens this morning with new tyres and with everything at 100%”.
Having said that the biggest surprise is the eighth time trial by the rookie and youngest ever Nicholas Pujatti (Villorba Corse), another Italian “senator” expected to battle at the top after yesterday’s ninth time trial is Alberto Cerqui.
The BeDriver pilot also experienced a particular episode yesterday: “I’m quite satisfied with the free practice and happy with the balance of the car. Unfortunately, 10 minutes before the end of the session, some marshals stopped me because it seemed I was losing something from the car, but it was nothing. Unfortunately, I missed the best moments, when the track was improving, so maybe the ranking is a bit distorted as far as I’m concerned, but we are optimistic for the qualifying”.
Jumping into the Michelin Cup, where Alberto De Amicis and Paolo Gnemmi immediately stood out with Ebimotors, the one who really lost something in the free practice was Francesco Fenici. The current leader of the category tied with Gnemmi and just two points over De Amicis was forced to interrupt the session due to an oil leak.
Only 13 (and with high results considering the full course yellow encountered) the laps completed by the Raptor Engineering driver. The Modena team then promptly resolved the inconvenience and this morning Fenici will be regularly on the track, even if the Santerno track itself also yesterday confirmed itself as a sort of “taboo” for him…
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