- Pro-Am points leaders High Class Racing make perfect start to Baden-Württemberg double-header.
- Trunkenpolz and Angerhofer set the benchmark time among Am runners in #17 True Racing KTM X-BOW GT2.
- Teams and drivers continue to settle into a rhythm ahead of hard-fought qualifying sessions later this afternoon (14 May).
High Class Racing’s #33 Audi R8 LMS GT2 in the hands of Mark Patterson and Anders Fjordbach set the benchmark time in the opening Fanatec GT2 European Series practice session at Hockenheim.
The duo – victorious in the series’ inaugural race last month at Monza – clocked a best time of 1:42.120 around the high-speed, 4.5km circuit on their first run, and thereafter were never bettered at the top of the time sheets.
Their nearest rivals on track thus far are also their closest competition in the Pro-Am standings. Although the PK Carsport #81 entry of Peter Guelinckx and Bert Longin fell short by 0.784 seconds on this occasion, the two teams sit level atop the Pro-Am standings heading into the weekend.
They were two tenths in turn ahead of the #9 Toro Verde GT Lamborghini Huracan GT2 of David Fairbrother and Jordan Witt, which caused a red flag halfway through the session after stopping at Turn 1.
True Racing's Sedhi Sarmini and Stefan Rosina led a quintet of KTM X-BOW GT2s in positions fourth through eighth, with the other True Racing entry of Hubert Trunkenpolz and Klaus Angerhofer – second in that group – the pacesetters among the Am runners in the #17.
Next came current Am points leader Sportec Motorsport, the #7 driven this weekend by the returning Christoph Ulrich and new partner Christoph Lenz.
Just two tenths of a second split the #24 of Kris Rosenberger and Hans Joachim Stuck from #8 in the hands of Rupert Atzberger and Peter Kox in seventh and eighth respectively, both cars running under the Reiter Engineering banner this weekend.
Speed Factory Racing’s #5 was ninth courtesy of Aurelijus Rusteika and Michael Vergers, and although LP Racing’s #88 Audi and AKF Motorsport’s #28 Lamborghini for debutante Oliver Freymuth showed good pace in paid testing earlier in the morning, neither participated in this session.
The weekend continues with Free Practice 2 at 14:45 (CET) this afternoon.