Slovakia Superstars: Fabrizio Giovanardi's Porsche tops practice
Fabrizio Giovanardi will head into Superstars International Series qualifying at the Slovakiaring as the man to beat after dominating the second free practice session
Having gone third fastest in the morning's opening half-hour session, the Petri Corse Porsche driver made his intentions clear when the second session kicked into life by going three tenths under the earlier benchmark on his first flying lap.
The time stood for 10 minutes, before practice one pacesetter Tonio Liuzzi went fastest in his Romeo Ferraris Mercedes, becoming the first driver to dip into the 2m12s bracket with a 2m12.714s flyer.
But Giovanardi was not done. Following a lengthy red flag period to retrieve Francesco Sini's Solaris Chevrolet from the barriers, the former British Touring Car champion came out firing again, this time putting the matter to bed with a 2m12.302s best three minutes from time.
Liuzzi wound up second, unable to improve on his earlier time.
Giovanni Berton made it three different makes in the top three, a 2m12.970s putting him third in the Dinamic BMW.
Series leader Thomas Biagi (Romeo Ferraris Mercedes) was fourth fastest in practice two, ahead of Roma Racing Mercedes driver Luigi Ferrara, and the Audi Sport Italia RS5 of Gianni Morbidelli.
In the morning's first session, Dinamic BMW's Max Mugelli was the big surprise, splitting big-name drivers Liuzzi and Giovanardi to go second fastest. He backed up the solid morning's work with seventh in second practice.
Practice one: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Tonio Liuzzi Ferraris Mercedes 2m13.336s 2. Max Mugelli Dinamic BMW 2m13.582s + 0.246s 3. Fabrizio Giovanardi Petri Porsche 2m13.882s + 0.546s 4. Gianni Morbidelli Audi Italia 2m13.895s + 0.559s 5. Thomas Biagi Ferraris Mercedes 2m13.917s + 0.581s 6. Giovanni Berton Dinamic BMW 2m14.429s + 1.093s 7. Francesco Sini Solaris Chevrolet 2m14.477s + 1.141s 8. Luigi Ferrara Roma Mercedes 2m15.449s + 2.113s 9. Mauro Trentin Dinamic BMW 2m16.606s + 3.270s 10. Andrea Larini Ferlito Jaguar 2m16.866s + 3.530s 11. Diabolik Ferlito Jaguar 2m17.666s + 4.330s 12. Andrea Bacci CAAL Mercedes 2m18.102s + 4.766s 13. Ferdinando Geri Audi Italia 2m18.348s + 5.012s 14. Roberto Benedetti RC Cadillac 2m18.698s + 5.362s 15. Leonardo Baccarelli CAAL Mercedes 2m19.534s + 6.198s 16. Francesco Ascani Todi BMW 2m19.946s + 6.610s 17. Max Fantini Petri Porsche Practice two: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Fabrizio Giovanardi Petro Porsche 2m12.302s 2. Tonio Liuzzi Ferraris Mercedes 2m12.714s + 0.412s 3. Giovanni Berton Dinamic BMW 2m12.970s + 0.668s 4. Thomas Biagi Ferraris Mercedes 2m13.199s + 0.897s 5. Luigi Ferrara Roma Mercedes 2m13.294s + 0.992s 6. Gianni Morbidelli Audi Italia 2m13.314s + 1.012s 7. Max Mugelli Dinamic BMW 2m14.227s + 1.925s 8. Andrea Bacci CAAL Mercedes 2m14.517s + 2.215s 9. Francesco Sini Solaris Chevrolet 2m14.792s + 2.490s 10. Roberto Benedetti RC Cadillac 2m16.416s + 4.114s 11. Mauro Trentin Dinamic BMW 2m16.549s + 4.247s 12. Andrea Larini Ferlito Jaguar 2m17.304s + 5.002s 13. Diabolik Ferlito Jaguar 2m17.372s + 5.070s 14. Ferdinando Geri Audi Italia 2m17.451s + 5.149s 15. Leonardo Baccarelli CAAL Mercedes 2m19.665s + 7.363s 16. Francesco Ascani Todi BMW 2m19.875s + 7.573s
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