PRACTICE: Giusti leads strong MP Motorsport 1-2-3 at Monza opener

Alessandro Giusti led the way for MP Motorsport at the Monza Free Practice, topping the timesheets with a 1:37.445

Tuukka Taponen set the early benchmark of a 1:40.020, with his MP teammate Giusti half a second behind in P2.

Noah Stromsted then reduced the gap to Taponen to 0.337s as PREMA Racing debutant Alex Powell went up to P3.

Hitech’s Jin Nakamura then took over at the top but was quickly demoted to P2 by Mattia Colnaghi, who completed a 1:39.467.

The times were starting to pour in quickly as Hiyu Yamakoshi went to within 0.064s off Colnaghi. However, on his next lap, Taponen regained top spot with a 1:39.150.

Title hopeful Ugo Ugochukwu then went quickest on a 1:38.883, putting him 0.108s clear of AIX Racing’s Yevan David.

But Taponen was once again showing his strong pace as he went back to P1, this time on a 1:38.444, as Taito Kato followed him across the line to go to second, albeit 0.405s behind.

The ART Grand Prix driver reduced the gap to 0.202s on his next lap, while his teammate Kanato Le jumped up to third.

Taponen improved to a 1:38.437 but his lead was reduced with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Yamakoshi just 0.088s behind in P2.

With just over 14 minutes to go in the session, the teams fitted the Soft tyre on their cars as they prepared for some qualifying simulation laps.

The drivers returned to the track with less than 10 minutes left of Practice, with Campos Racing’s Ernesto Rivera going quickest on a 1:37.901.

MP were showing great form as Giusti set the Formula 3 lap record around Monza with a 1:37.445 to lead teammate Taponen by 0.232s.

Colnaghi then made it a 1-2-3 for the Dutch team at the chequered flag, just as Ugochukwu and Matteo De Palo made contact down the main straight, leaving both cars by the side of the road with damage.

That brought an end to a strong session for MP with Giusti ahead of Taponen and Colnaghi. Gerrard Xie was fourth for DAMS Lucas Oil ahead of Rivera.

David was sixth ahead of Le and Stromsted, with Nicola Lacorte in ninth as VAR’s Bruno del Pino rounded out the top 10.

That wraps up the session with Group A set to hit the track for qualifying at 14:00 local time, before Group B get going at 14:20.