Reigning GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup title winners Lucas Auer and Maro Engel laid down an early marker at Brands Hatch this morning, lapping the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit fastest overall during Free Practice.
The Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, which won the second of the two one-hour races at this event last year, lapped the Kent circuit’s famed longer layout in 1m23.145s. On a bright and sunny morning, this was enough to top the times by the slender margin of just 0.33s from the Ferrari of Thierry Vermeulen and Chris Lulham.
Behind that, it was the all-British pairing of Sandy Mitchell and Hugo Cook whose Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini set the third quickest time, albeit a little further behind the pace setting entry at almost three tenths of a second off.
Those behind were tightly packed however with Jordan Pepper and Luca Engstler’s Grasser Lamborhingi next among a group of four further cars which all lapped within a tenth of the Barwell machine. Charles Weerts and Kelvin Van Der Linde were the next of these in the lead Team WRT BMW with the Garage 59 McLaren shared by Adam Smalley and Louis Prette sixth. The last of that mini-group was Tresor Attempto Racing’s Audi, shared by Alex Aka and Ezequiel Perez Companc.
Sven Muller and Patric Niederhauser weren’t much further off, setting the eighth fastest time at the wheel of a Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, with another Audi in the hands of Paul Evrard and Gilles Magnus and the Mercedes-AMG of Aurelien Panis and Cesar Gazeau rounding out the top-10.
GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS, Free Practice, Brands Hatch
- Auer/Engel, Winward Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, 1m23.145s
- Vermeulen/Lulham, Emil Frey Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3, +0.033s
- Mitchell/Cook, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, +0.286s
- Pepper/Engstler, GRT – Grasser Racing Team, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, +0.308s
- Weerts/Van Der Linde, Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3 EVO, +0.312s
- Prette/Smalley, Garage 59, McLaren 720S GT3 EVO, +0.340s
- Aka/Perez Companc, Tresor Attempto Racing, Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II, +0.368s
- Muller/Niederhauser, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), +0.430s
- Evrard/Magnus, Sainteloc Racing, Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II, +0.533s
- Panis/Gazeau, Boutsen VDS, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, +0.656s