Minassian sets stunning Monza pace
The diesel Peugeots emphasised their speed advantage over rivals Audi in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the Monza 1000kms race on Sunday
Nicolas Minassian set an astonishing lap of 1:31.606 as the French squad trimmed out the 908 Hdi FAP for qualifying, and ended the session nearly a second faster than the sister Peugeot, driven by Pedro Lamy.
While Audi expect to be closer to the Peugeots in race trim, their pace in practice suggests qualifying may be a foregone conclusion as Rinaldo Capello's third-placed R10 TDi lapped 1.4s slower than Minassian.
Mike Rockenfeller was a further 1.4s back from his Audi teammate in fourth.
The Charouz System Lola Aston Martin continues to be the fastest of the petrol-engined LMP1 cars in Italy, with Jan Charouz lapping 0.5s faster than the ORECA Courages of Olivier Panis and Soheil Ayari.
Peter van Merksteijn continued to be quickest in LMP2 as he staved off a challenge from Team Essex's Casper Elgaard in the battle of the Porsche Spyder RS machines.
Third fastest in class was Michael Vergers in the Barazi-Epsilon Zytek.
In GT1, Team Modena Aston Martin's Tomas Enge had the measure of factory Corvette driver Olivier Beretta - 'on loan' to the Luc Alphand Aventures team for the weekend.
Virgo Motorsport's Robert Bell reminded the Felbermayr team that it has a fight on its hands this weekend by setting the fastest time in GT2 with his Ferrari F430 GT.
Pos Driver Car Time LMP 1. Gene/Minassian Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 1:31.606 2. Lamy/Sarrazin Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 1:32.555 3. Capello/McNish Audi R10 TDI 1:33.055 4. Premat/Rockenfeller Audi R10 TDI 1:34.581 5. Mucke/Charouz Lola Aston Martin 1:35.007 6. Panis/Lapierre Courage-Oreca Judd 1:35.551 7. Ortelli/Ayari Courage-Oreca Judd 1:35.652 8. Campbell-Walter/Hall Creation CA07 - Aim 1:35.725 9. Collard/Boullion Pescarolo Judd 1:35.741 10. Burgueno/De Castro Epsilon Euskadi Judd 1:36.464 11. Primat/Tinseau Pescarolo Judd 1:37.200 12. Kerr/Jouanny Creation CA07 - Aim 1:38.868 13. Tappy/Ickx/Short Pescarolo Judd 1:39.658 14. Nicolet/Faggionato/Hein Pescarolo Judd 1:41.253 LMP2 1. Van Merksteijn/Verstappen Porsche RS Spyder 1:37.522 2. Elgaard/Nielsen Porsche RS Spyder 1:37.928 3. Barazi/Vergers/Rees Zytek 07S Zytek 1:37.968 4. Lienhard/Theys/Lammers Porsche RS Spyder 1:38.119 5. Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia Lola B08/80 Coupe Judd 1:39.183 6. Amaral/Pla Lola B05/40 AER 1:39.460 7. Kane/Foster WF01 Zytek 1:40.033 8. Erdos/Newton Lola MG 1:40.257 9. Ojjeh/Gosselin/Schroyen Zytek 07S Zytek 1:40.816 10. Ragues/Lahaye Pescarolo Judd 1:41.239 11. Hughes/Haberfield WF01 Zytek 1:41.462 12. Rostan/Peterson/Lueders Radical SR9 AER 1:41.886 13. de Pourtales/Noda Lola B05/40 Mazda 1:43.061 14. Didaio/Francioni Lucchini Judd 1:43.868 15. Salini/Salini/Roussel WR Zytek 1:47.512 GT1 1. Garcia/Enge Aston Martin DBR9 1:44.728 2. Beretta/Moreau/Gouselard Corvette C6.R 1:45.583 3. Blanchmain/Dumez/Manopoulos Corvette C6.R 1:49.391 4. Rusinov/Kox Lamborghini Murcielago 2:05.029 GT2 1. Bell/Bruni Ferrari F430 GT 1:48.996 2. Lieb/Davison Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:49.306 3. Narac/Lietz Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:50.270 4. Daniels/Paltalla/Sugden Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:50.628 5. Ehret/Kaffer Ferrari F430 GT 1:50.658 6. Aucott/Daoudi Ferrari F430 GT 1:50.705 7. Nielsen/Westbrook/Simonsen Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:50.895 8. Dumbreck/Kelleners/Vasiliev Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R 1:51.480 9. Chiesa/Leuenberger Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R 1:51.749 10. Balandras/Lecourt/Belloc Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:51.847 11. Ried/Felbermayr/Felbermayr Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:52.753 12. Kutemann/Basso/Casadei Ferrari F430 GT 1:53.423
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