Benavente Quickest in Peso da Régua Free Practice, Sacchi and Palfreyman Close Behind

The first free practice session in Peso da Régua saw Portugal’s own Duarte Benavente set the pace in front of the home crowd. The Atlantic Racing Team driver completed 34 laps, clocking a best time of 42.647 seconds. Monaco’s Giacomo Sacchi and Britain’s Matthew Palfreyman rounded out the top three, both within three-tenths of a second from the leader. Sweden’s Mathilda Wiberg impressed with the 4th fastest lap, while reigning champion Rashed Al Qemzi finished 5th. The session saw close margins throughout the field, with less than half a second covering the top six. Here are the full free practice results:

Pos	Number	Name	Country	Laps	Best Lap	Gap
1	45	Duarte Benavente	POR	34	42.647
2	74	Giacomo Sacchi	MON	35	42.753	+0.106
3	14	Matthew Palfreyman	GBR	22	42.880	+0.233
4	7	Mathilda Wiberg	SWE	29	42.974	+0.327
5	1	Rashed Al Qemzi	UAE	32	43.192	+0.545
6	96	Roope Virtanen	FIN	25	43.372	+0.725
7	70	Hilmer Wiberg	SWE	49	43.407	+0.760
8	41	Edgaras Riabko	LTU	35	43.408	+0.761
9	33	Nelson Morin	FRA	29	43.582	+0.935
10	11	Peter Morin	FRA	37	43.960	+1.313
11	18	Stefan Arand	EST	45	44.011	+1.364
12	36	Salem Al Yafei	UAE	50	44.740	+2.093
13	9	Mette Bjerknæs	GBR	15	44.769	+2.122
14	3	Owen Jelf	GBR	40	45.229	+2.582
15	25	Tino Lehto	FIN	43	45.627	+2.980
16	2	Johan Österberg	SWE	44	45.800	+3.153
17	77	Tobias Munthe-Kaas	NOR	34	46.817	+4.170
18	29	Egidijus Dagilis	LTU	29	47.103	+4.456
19	27	Andrè Solvang	NOR

With free practice complete, all eyes turn to qualifying where the margins are expected to be even tighter.