Andrea Montermini Montermini-Michele Maceratesi Ferrari 430 GT2- nr 3
Free practice 1 - 1.43.159 - 6th (18 laps)
Free practice 2 - 1.41.942 - 3rd (25 laps)
Manuel Giao-Pedro Couceiro - Ferrari 430 GT2 - Nr 4
Free practice 1 - 143.926 - 8th(16 laps)
Free practice 2 - 1.42.592 - 9th (25 laps)
Very dark clouds and a wet track were the unexpected scenes that met teams at the 2008 International GT Open's fourth event of the season at Estoril in Portugal.
In the first free practice, car no. 3, Michele Maceratesi-Andrea Montermini's Ferrari 430 GT2 lapped sixth fastest in of 1.43.159.
Meanwhile in car no 4 Manuel Giao-Pedro Couceiro in the team's second Ferrari 430 GT2 finished eighth fastest with a best lap of 1.43.926.
Andrea Montermini commented, "I drove the first part of the session and then Michele Maceratesi took over for only 5 laps. We were rather heavy on fuel, but did not push because there was oil on the track and it was very dirty. We were using old tyres anyway."
Manuel Giao says, "I was lucky this morning because I was the first car on the oil and I spun. I came close to the accident. The car behind me also spun. He touched my rear left wheel, but the miracle is that there was no damage."
In the second free practice session the weather remained dry despite a rather cloudy and threatening cloudy sky with an air temperature around 21 degrees. Michele Maceratesi and Andrea Montermini remained in the top three fastest during the whole session and their best lap was 1.41.942, just 1.037s behind the leaders Porsche nr 1 from Richard Lietz-Gianluca Roda.
Manuel Giao-Pedro Couceiro ended second practice in ninth with a best lap of 1:42.592 after 25 laps. It was overall a consistent and productive day where the four drivers proved fast when needed in the 84 laps they drove.
Andrea Montermini commented, "I am pleased with the work today. All went well and in the direction. With the engineers we achieved what we expected. This makes us confident for qualifying."
His team mate Michele Maceratesi added: "A much better performance in the afternoon than in the morning. The car works well and we are satisfied."
Manuel Giao in the other Ferrari continues: "The car is better than in the morning and I had no problem making it work. We still have to work on finding a few tenths with the engineers We should have achieved what we wanted for the morning qualifying sessions."
Pedro Couceiro concluded, "We have a good balance and good set-up to prepare for qualifying. Speed is what we need to improve. The tyres are behaving well. We are very close to our goals."
After four rounds Scuderia Playteam SaraFree is leading the championship with Montermini-Maceratesi in Ferrari F430 nr 3 with 81 points, 20 points ahead of Michele Rugolo (61 points). Giao-Couceiro in Ferrari F430 nr 4 are third, just one point behind Rugolo with 60 points in the Championship.
With 60 points, Scuderia Playteam SaraFree also leads Advanced Engineering by ten points. The team was the winner of the overall title in 2006 and of the GTA and Teams Cups in 2007 after Montermini and Maceratesi won their GT Open category (GTA).
- Agnes Carlier -
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