PRACTICE: Doriane Pin hits the ground running on Las Vegas debut

Doriane Pin made her title intentions clear, topping the timesheets in practice ahead of rival Maya Weug on the series’ first appearance around the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

The Standings leader posted a 2:07.967 to go two tenths clear of the Ferrari driver after a late Red Flag denied them a chance to improve inside the final 10 minutes of running.

Lia Block was the first to post a time around the 6.2km circuit, steadily lowering the initial benchmark from a 2:19.431 to a 2:15.321. Track temperatures continued to fall below 17.6˚C as the action heated up, with Pin breaking into the 2:12s, followed by Tommy Hilfiger’s Alba Larsen.

The Mercedes driver pushed on, remaining quickest on a 2:10.117. Meanwhile, Weug began to slowly bring her tyres up to temperature, moving into second, seven tenths off Pin’s effort.

As the rest of the field picked up the pace, Alisha Palmowski rocketed to the top with the first 2:09s time of the day, only to be quickly beaten by Pin. Weug briefly moved to the top of the order on a 2:09.045, while both Rafaela Ferreira and Lia Block took separate trips to the run-off.

Personal bests for Palmowski and Chloe Chambers elevated the Campos Racing pair to the top two, but it wouldn’t be long before Pin moved back out front on a 2:08.606, with Weug closing to within 0.050s.

Pin managed to put over two tenths between herself and her title rival with a 2:07.967. Chambers moved back inside the top three, but the Red Bull Ford driver’s session would be brought to a premature end.

With less than 10 minutes remaining, the American found the barriers after her front right suspension broke on the approach to Turn 1, necessitating a Red Flag. The clock continued to tick down and with only a minute remaining once the session resumed, no further improvements were possible.

This left Pin to claim the fastest time ahead of Weug and Chambers. Larsen was seven tenths off the pace in fourth ahead of Palmowski and Tina Hausmann. Rookies Ella Lloyd, Nina Gademan and Rafaela Ferreira followed in seventh, eighth and ninth and Charlotte Tilbury’s Chloe Chong completed the top 10.

A final late night Qualifying session awaits with the field hitting the track at 21:30 local time (UTC-8) on Thursday.