Photo: CSAI-ACI
Championship leader Alessio Rovera was the man to beat on Friday as he topped two Formula Abarth practice sessions from three and set the overall fastest time of the running at Imola.
The Italian started his weekend in a dominant way as he led the first session, lapping more than 1.3s faster than second-placed Dario Orsini. He also ended the final session as the fastest driver, having previously finished fourth in the second one with only five laps recorded in the run.
Rovera’s main championship rivals, Simone Iaquinta?and?Michele Beretta, finished second and third, beaten by 0.6s and 0.9s seconds respectively. The fourth place went to Giorgio Roda, whose car was found underweight after the second session, which led to the cancellation of the relevant times.
Russian driver Sergey Trofimov led the charge in the National Trophy, with finishing sixth behind Orsini. Usual frontrunner Lukas Moraes was off-pace, finishing seventh, with his best time three seconds down on Rovera. Trofimov’s only National Trophy rivals, Sabino de Castro and Vitaly Larionov, finished eighth and ninth.
Practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Best | Gap | P1 | P2 | P3 |
| 1 | Alessio Rovera | Cram Motorsport | 1:45.173 | 1:46.292 | 1:48.386 | 1:45.173 | |
| 2 | Simone Iaquinta | GSK | 1:45.806 | 0.633 | 1:48.182 | 1:46.279 | 1:45.806 |
| 3 | Michele Beretta | Euronova by Fortec | 1:46.129 | 0.956 | 1:47.873 | 1:46.301 | 1:46.129 |
| 4 | Giorgio Roda | Cram Motorsport | 1:46.602 | 1.429 | 1:48.543 | No Time | 1:46.602 |
| 5 | Dario Orsini | NBC Group | 1:46.658 | 1.485 | 1:47.605 | 1:46.658 | No Time |
| 6 | Sergey Trofimov | Euronova by Fortec | 1:48.018 | 2.845 | 1:51.455 | 1:49.774 | 1:48.018 |
| 7 | Lukas Moraes | Facondini | 1:48.280 | 3.107 | 1:50.344 | 1:48.775 | 1:48.280 |
| 8 | Sabino de Castro | AB Motorsport | 1:49.254 | 4.081 | 1:50.945 | 1:49.839 | 1:49.254 |
| 9 | Vitaly Larionov | Euronova by Fortec | 1:49.876 | 4.703 | 2:21.224 | 1:51.406 | 1:49.876 |