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.