The free practice sessions at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli have concluded, marking the final stage of the 2024 TCR European Endurance calendar. Once again, Turgut Konukoǧlu and Eric Brigliadori (Audi RS3 TCR) – TEXACO Team AMS – have claimed the top spot, focused on securing the overall championship title.
Despite a slightly slower lap time compared to FP1, the championship-leading duo maintains a lead of over a second over their teammates from the Turkish team, the #4 Audi RS3 driven by Okyay/Kaçan, which tops the DSG category standings. Having already secured the championship in their category, they will face new challengers for the class victory in this round, as five debutants are participating in this final stage. Among them, the Nardilli/Lisi pair (Cupra DSG) from Pro Race are still shining, finishing third in the second free practice session but closely behind the DSG class leaders, ready to put up a fight in qualifying.
TEXACO Team AMS also secured fourth place with the Audi RS3 Gen-1 driven by Barkin Pinar, partnered for this final round by Sinan Çiftci. At the end of these second free practice sessions’ standings, among the debutant drivers, is Alessandro Brigatti – paired with Ottavio Cappelli, winner of the third round in the DSG class with coach driver Stefano Comini – in the VW Golf DSG of Faro Racing, which is fielding a second car with team manager Fabrizio Tablò, also making his debut in the series promoted by Mauricio Slaviero.
Now that all drivers have had the opportunity to fine-tune their car setups, it’s time to get serious with the two 15-minute qualifying sessions, which will start at 18:00 local time and determine the final pole sitters of the season. Tomorrow will be the final day of the event, with the green flag waving at 9:00 local time for stage 1, while the final race start will be at 17:35 local time. Both stages will be live-streamed on the TCR TV YouTube channel, with commentary by Stefano Russo.
