Practice: Alfas still on top

Local favourites Volvo were much closer to the pace and Rickard Rydell was third quickest. However, the former BTCC champ was almost half a second shy of Giovanardi's best time of 1m41.809s.

Alfa's Tom Ferrier showed some of his early season form with the fifth fastest lap, ahead of the quickest BMW of Dirk Muller. The BMW's were more competitive in the first session, when Muller and team-mate Jorg Muller, were third and fourth. However, neither driver improved his time in the afternoon and dropped down the order as a consequence.

Honda's Salvatore Tavano missed out on the second session after an airbox failure, while the sister Civic of Sandro Sardelli stopped on track with a blown engine to compound a miserable day for the CiBiEmme team.

Chris Goodwin (Nissan) and Paolo Ruberti (Alfa) both missed the first session with electrical and engine problems respectively, but their teams did a great job to make sure that both drivers were able to compete in the second session, although neither challenged for a top 10 spot.


Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 Gta 1m41.809s
Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 Gta 1m41.908s
Rickard Rydell Volvo S60 1m42.315s
Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 1m42.604s
Tom Ferrier Alfa Romeo 156 Gta 1m42.632s
Dirk Muller BMW 320i 1m42.701s