Miki Koyama went fastest in Free Practice 2 as the W Series rolled in to Misano, Italy.
The women only racing series hits the halfway point this weekend with British driver Jamie Chadwick the entering the third race of the season as the Championship leader.
However, it was Japanese racer Koyama who impressed during Friday’s practice sessions beating Chadwick with a 1:34:663 time, which she set in the last 13 minutes of the day.
Beitske Visser, who won the race in Zolder last time out continued her blistering form as she topped the pile in Free Practice 1 with a 1:35:193 but finished fifteenth in Free Practice 2 after missing most of the afternoon session due to an electronics issue.
Marta Garcia, who sits fourth in the championship, was forced to miss Free Practice 2 after gravel damaged her oil pump belt.
As a result, the afternoon session was delayed by 50 minutes thanks to screws in turns 6 and 16 coming loose. Eventually, all kerbs were removed to ensure a safe running on track.
None of the events fazed Jessica Hawkins who was narrowly pipped to second place by Chadwick having set a time of 1:34:816 in Free Practice 2. However, she was consistent throughout Friday with Hawkins finishing third in both sessions.
Misano was unforgiving on Friday with temperatures hitting 32 degrees Celsius but it wasn’t anything new to local driver Vicky Piria who had a solid start to the weekend, finishing seventh in Free Practice 1 and fourth in the second practice.
Less than a second separated Piria in fourth to Gosia Rdest in thirteenth which should be food for thought for all nineteen drivers as they enter Saturday’s qualifying.
Alice Powell also showed consistency throughout Friday having set a second fastest time in the morning but having to settle for sixth in the afternoon.
Koyama will be hoping to carry her Friday time into qualifying to give herself a fighting chance. In Zolder she started thirteenth and stormed her way through to eighth and in Hockenheim she went from sixteenth to seventh.
And, with the times between the grid so tight on Friday, it really could be anyone’s weekend in Misano.
