It was a debut to remember for MM Motorsport in Misano: making their first appearance in TCR European Endurance, the Italian team topped the standings in FP1 with Pellegrini/Halder (Honda Civic FL5) on a damp circuit. A historic first performance for the Japanese brand, as Honda went fastest in their maiden session in the series promoted by Riza International.
Despite the track’s wet conditions at the beginning of the session, drivers later switched to slicks as a dry line began to form on the Italian circuit. That was when Pellegrini/Halder were able to set the quickest lap time in a 1:45.321, right before the rain started to fall again in the last few minutes. The MM Motorsport pair then got the better of reigning champions Scalvini/Tavano (Cupra Leon VZ) by just 0.181s. Honda’s brilliant performance in Misano was also highlighted by MC Motortecnica, who finished third with Chierichetti/Sturla (Honda Civic FK7). Fourth belonged to Kochendörfer/Klug (Cupra TCR DSG), who were the fastest pair among the DSG entries, beating DSG championship hopeful Davide Pezza (Audi RS3 DSG) by two tenths.
The sixth-fastest time went to Brothers In Arms, with Caso/Argenti (Cupra TCR DSG) finishing ahead of Çiftçi/Dalokay (Audi RS3 LMS). It was a tough beginning for Lisi/Berton (Audi RS3 LMS), with the championship leaders of the sequential class having to settle for eighth in the first free practice session. The two other TEXACO Team AMS entries then completed the top-10, with the Gen-1 car of Kalpaklıoğlu/Özen (Audi RS3 Gen-1) finishing ahead of Söylemez/Marangoz (Audi RS3 DSG). In particular, Özen was called up at the last minute to replace Umut Göktaş, and will once again partner up with Kalpaklıoğlu after having done so in Mugello last year. The standings were then rounded out by Palanti/Carinci (Audi RS3 DSG) and Pasquale Serratore (Cupra TCR DSG).
The schedule for the season finale sees the second free practice session on Friday 13 November, starting at 16:25 local time; moreover, qualifying will be held at night time later today, with the two 15-minute sessions going back to back from 18:50 local time. Both stages will also take place under the floodlights; Stage-1 is scheduled for Saturday 14 November at 18:00 local time, while Stage-2 will begin at 17:55 local time on Sunday 15 November to crown this year’s champions. Both stages will be streamed live on TCR TV’s official YouTube channel, with Daniele Spadi providing commentary on both occasions.
