PRACTICE: Goethe sets the pace for Campos Racing

Campos Racing’s Oliver Goethe was the man to beat in Free Practice around Imola, with the German driver’s 1:32.047 the time to beat in the opening session of the weekend. Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning finished in P2, 0.3s down on the top time while Mari Boya made it two Campos cars in the top three.

A very quiet opening 10 minutes gave way to some early laptimes, and it was Joseph Loake that went quickest for Rodin Motorsport. His 1:36.795 put him fastest in the initial stages before the rest of the field ventured out.

PREMA Racing’s Arvid Lindblad lowered the benchmark to a 1:33.784 on his first lap, with ART Grand Prix driver Christian Mansell slotting into P2, 0.2s down.

Gabriele Minì briefly took the top spot from his teammate before Charlie Wurz went quickest of all for Jenzer Motorsport on a 1:33.268. ART driver Nikola Tsolov went up to P2 just 0.004s behind.

There was a Red Flag with 24 minutes of the session to go after Campos Racing’s Sebastian Montoya found the barriers at the exit of Turn 15. Running resumed with 18 minutes left of the session.

Wurz’s teammate Max Esterson was next to take over in P1, before Browning put in a 1:32.367 to go comfortably quickest with just over 10 minutes to go.

Goethe closed the gap down to the leader to just under a tenth of a second before then going to the top of the times on his next effort. A 1:32.047 put him 0.3s clear of the pack with five minutes left on the clock.

A second Red Flag quickly followed after Piotr Wisnicki slid into the barriers at Turn 9. With little time left, the session wasn’t restarted.

Qualifying at Imola is set to commence at 15:05 local time.