It is not at all easy to pull the strings on Friday for the second round of the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup Italia in Vallelunga. A truly “technical” day that put teams, drivers and even cars to the test, busy until the evening checking the data from the afternoon’s free practice after having also completed 4 hours of pre-race testing this morning.
The puzzle of qualifying is complicated: the variables involved are really numerous between the first heat of the season, a small unknown weather that still persists on Saturday morning, tire management, changing surface conditions and above all traffic on the track.
In short, a truly intense and complex Friday to interpret globally, even if a certainty can be very well represented by Gianmarco Quaresmini. The reigning champion topped both in the test (1’34″323 his best time) and in free practice (1’34″624), however revealing potential and the excellent general verve at Dinamic Motorsport.
“I’m super satisfied with this Friday – said the rider from Brescia at the end of the day -. First in the test this morning and then in free practice, among other things with used tires from the first race at Misano. Despite this I managed to set an excellent time and give 3 tenths of a gap per second. I feel very comfortable with the setup of the car and we have the potential to recover and relaunch ourselves in the standings. There are many rivals but the goal is always to confirm me as champion”.
Yes, the rivals are at least as many as the variables. One that immediately comes to mind is Matteo Malucelli, who among other things in Vallelunga has to make up for that incredible start last year, when he started well before the traffic lights went out from the front row of race 1 (Quaresmini was on pole ).
Alberto Cerqui gives a good idea of how much the day is technically all to be evaluated in depth. The 2021 champion and BeDriver standard bearer doesn’t even mince words: “I’m quite satisfied, we’re working well as a team, but we’re all always very close, so it’s difficult to interpret the various situations. There’s a moment when the track is more fast, another who maybe doesn’t find traffic while pushing and maybe, as happened to me in the first part of free practice, who instead never finds a free lap. Managing qualifying will be very difficult. I think we’ve seen the values in the field more this morning, when we all put on 1 or 2 sets of new Michelins. In any case, it will be very important to start up front in the race. Even the heat will be a factor that shouldn’t be underestimated, I must say that today I suffered a bit because we were no longer used to it “.
“The heat is our enemy – echoes Simone Iaquinta from the Ghinzani Arco Motorsport garage -, today it was more important to get ready for the race than for qualifying. Then, from testing to free practice, the track changed a lot so let’s hope that tomorrow morning change again otherwise the good settings tried today won’t help. This morning in the test we were fast, but with the only set of new tires mounted I found the red flag. In free practice, however, everything went well, clearly we had all the tires from Misano …”.
