PRACTICE: Felbermayr sets pace ahead of Palmowski in opening Austin session

Emma Felbermayr got her Austin weekend off to a strong start, taking the fastest time in the one-and-only Practice session around the Circuit of the Americas.

The Audi driver posted a 2:08.949 to lead by almost two tenths ahead of Standings leader Alisha Palmowski, with Nina Gademan rounding out the top three.

Felbermayr was the first driver to post a time on the board, setting a 2:17.563 as the drivers took to the circuit for the first time, followed closely by Ella Stevens.

Gademan quickly took over the top spot with a 2:10.992 and improved on her second lap to 2:10.059, followed closely by MP Motorsport teammate Alba Larsen on a 2:11.294. Meanwhile, Mathilda Paatz was unable to participate in the session, with engineers working on her #8 Aston Martin operated by PREMA car.

Just before the halfway mark, Larsen went fastest on a 2:09.733, becoming the first into the 2:09s, 0.326s ahead of the Alpine driver. Palmowski delivered multiple improvements, eventually posting a 2:09.996 to slot into second just 0.263s behind the Ferrari junior.

As track conditions continued to evolve, the drivers struggled with track limits, especially at Turn 1. Battling to find how much and where they could push, multiple cars had their lap times deleted.

With 15 minutes left in the session, Larsen kept pushing to extend her lead, with Palmowski close behind the Ferrari driver.

Felbermayr set the fastest Sectors 1 and 2 times, moving back to the top of the timesheets, going 0.375s faster than Larsen. Meanwhile, Payton Westcott brought out the yellow flags momentarily after a spin at Turn 19, but recovered and returned to the pits.

Rachel Robertson had been slowly building momentum, splitting Felbermayr and Palmowski with a 2:09.383. With three and a half minutes left on the clock, Palmowski set her fastest time of the session with a 2:09.127, less than a tenth ahead of Felbermayr as Larsen ran wide.

The Audi driver responded, becoming the first and only driver to break the 2:08s mark almost two tenths ahead of the Standings leader. The Red Bull Racing driver tried to respond with the fastest first sector, but couldn't beat the Austrian's time.

Westcott and Gademan closed in on their final laps, but nobody could take P1 from Felbermayr. Palmowski had to settle for P2 at the chequered flag, 0.178s off the fastest time.

Gademan was third quickest, ahead of Westcott and Robertson. Despite a superb start to the session, Larsen finished sixth, followed by Lisa Billard, with Natalia Granada in P8. Stevens and Rafaela Ferreira rounded out the top 10.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Qualifying will get underway at 16:30 local time (UTC-5), with the fastest times setting the grid for Sunday’s Feature Race and the second-fastest times for Friday evening’s Opening Race.