Champion-elect Thomas Biagi re-asserted his title credentials in second free practice ahead of this weekend's
FIA GT outing at Nogaro in France, storming to the top of the timesheets despite the increasingly treacherous track surface.
The Italian sharing his Vitaphone Maserati MC 12 with regular partner Michael Bartels turned the tables on Scuderia Playteam Sarafree rivals Andrea Bertolini and Andrea Piccini in the cloudy and damp conditions.
The second free practice was good, Biagi asserted. The Michelins were working well, but it's very tough and I think it will be a big fight this weekend. I need to be strong and have some luck we'll see.
The joint championship leader lapped just under two tenths of a second quicker than the #36 Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 of Robert Lechner and Lukas Lichtner Hoyer, with the sister machine of Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp backing them up close behind in third despite carrying 70kg penalty weight.
The twin Aston Martin Racing BMS cars wound up fourth and fifth, Fabio Babini and Jamie Davies narrowly ahead of Jean-Marc Gounon and Ferdinando Monfardini as the conditions and circuit seemed to suit the DBR9s. They were followed by two Corvettes, the Carsport Holland C6 ahead of the PK C5, with the sole Lamborghini in eighth position and in a reversal of session one fortunes Piccini and Bertolini barely scraping into the top ten, suggesting this pivotal weekend is set to be anything but predictable.
In GT2, the #50 AF Corse Motorola
Ferrari 430 GT2 led the way, ahead of the #74 Ebimotors Porsche of Xavier Pompidou and Marcello Zani and the #97 machine of Emmanuel Collard and Matteo Malucelli.
The best Citation Cup time was set by Stιphane Daoudi in the #16 JMB Racing Maserati MC 12.
