LP Racing started the 2024 Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli season in fine style, as Leonardo Gorini and Carlo Tamburini secured a double position position for Maserati at Circuit Paul Ricard.
The Italian squad transferred its morning speed to the two 20-minute Qualifying sessions, with Am driver Gorini first to take to the track in the #1 Maserati GT2. A fine effort of 2:04.523s in the second half of proceedings would prove sufficient enough to seal the deal, taking the first pole position of the season by a gap of 0.460s.
Gorini was made to work for the top spot however, as nearest Pro-Am rival Jan Krabec delivered a stellar performance to take second place for the RTR Projects KTM X-BOW squad.
The Czech driver split the LP Racing team’s Maserati GT2 entries as a result, as Philippe Prette took the fight to his competitors to claim the Am class pole on his Fanatec GT2 debut. The Italian would finish third overall, just over half a second from his team-mate.
KTM had three cars sitting in the top five, with another impressive debut coming from series newcomers RacingLab to qualify fourth thanks to Ronnie Bremer. Team MZR followed in fifth with Martin Koch’s X-BOW, while TFT Racing showed strong pace as Alexandre Leroy grabbed sixth - second in the Am class.
In Q2 it was again all about the second half of the session. Carlo Tamburini took over the wheel of the #1 Maserati GT2, and his best lap of 2:03.404s was enough to gift a second overall and Pro-Am pole position to the LP Racing squad.
Tamburini’s time was good enough to keep Team MZR’s Reinhard Kofler at bay by 0.322s, despite the latter closing the gap with a late flying lap that moved him onto the front row for Saturday’s second race.
A brace of fellow KTM teams followed suit. RTR Projects rounded out a strong Qualifying with third place for Matej Homola, while newcomers Razoon - More Than Racing finished a close fourth overall thanks to young charger Simon Birch in the #80 KTM X-BOW.
The Am class spoils this time went to Akkodis ASP and Gilles Vannelet, after the Mercedes-AMG driver pipped LP Racing’s Prette by just over two tenths in an entertaining fight for class honours.
The first two Fanatec GT2 European Series races of the season are scheduled for 13:05 and 18:45 tomorrow (Sunday). Watch all the action unfold live via GT World on YouTube.