AF Corse Maserati set the pace

Scorching heat engulfed the Dubai Autodrome on the first day of action in the LG Super Racing Weekend as the FIA-GT teams took to the track for the first official practice session.

By the end of the day the AF Corse Maserati set the pace for what promises to be a gruelling two days for the teams who have been hitherto used to the temperate climate of Europe.

Lap times are likely to drop even further tomorrow during the two official qualifying sessions for Friday's race.

It was not a surprise that times got faster towards the end of the day. Factors contributing to this was the laying down of rubber during the course of the day, clearing of dust by the cars and drivers becoming increasingly familiar with the layout of the new course.

There was a significant improvement of two seconds in lap times from the morning practice to the afternoon session.

The BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari of Italy's Matteo Bobbi and Swiss Gabrielle Gardel set the morning pace clocking the fastest time of 2:00:509 seconds in the session.

The AF Corse Maserati drivers bounced back and made their intentions clear with a one-two in the afternoon.

The Johnny Herbert (Britain) and Fabrizio de Simone (Italy) car ran fastest with a lap of 1:58:152 seconds, almost a second faster than the sister Maserati of Mika Salo (Finland) and Andrea Bertolini (Italy) which set the second fastest time. Both cars ran two seconds quicker than in the morning session indicating that the track could well have more to offer in terms of fast lap times today. The Bobbi/ Gardel Ferrari was demoted to third quickest.

The major player of the day was the heat which provided provided teams with conditions unlike anything they had ever experienced before.

Track temperatures soared to over 50 degrees while the atmospheric temperatures hovered around 40 degrees illustrating that it was hot even by Dubai standards at this time of the year.

When the cars entered the pits mechanics hastily arranged special cooling fans aimed into the cockpit to cool the driver. Special cooling units were also placed in front of the radiators when driver changes took place. With the track conditions improving with every session yesterday, qualifying today is likely to see times tumbling even further with the Maserati squad again the team to beat.

Ferrari, which had three cars setting times in the top five, look the likely candidates to upset the predictions of a Maserati pole position, while the Konrad Saleen S7s have yet to show what they are capable of in Dubai.

An interesting showdown in the sun awaits fans who attend official qualifying today at the Autodrome.

The first FIA-GT session starts at 9.15am with the second session scheduled for 15.45pm.