Michael Doppelmayr and Pierre Kaffer were quickest in Free Practice at Spa-Francorchamps, as the third round of Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli got underway on Thursday.
The LP Racing duo clocked a best lap time of 2:18.101s under sunny skies during the opening 60-minute session in Belgium, breaking the official GT2 lap record by over two seconds at the newly-resurfaced circuit.
The #18 Audi R8 LMS GT2 finished 0.750s clear of Philippe Prette who also topped the list of Am class runners in the Italian team’s #2 Maserati GT2, after a late effort bumped him up to second place.
It demoted the #812 Team MZR KTM X-BOW GT2 of Reinhard Kofler and Martin Koch to third, ahead of Loris Hezemans and local driver Eric De Doncker in the #98 Motorsport 98 Mercedes-AMG GT2. Razoon - More Than Racing rounded out the top five with its in-form Pro-Am pairing of Simon Birch and Thomas Andersen, one of three KTM crews in the top 10.
Two further Maseratis were close behind. Am class points leader Alexandre Leroy was sixth ahead of Pro-Am table-toppers Leonardo Gorini and Carlo Tamburini, driving for TFT Racing and LP Racing respectively.
The second LP Racing Audi of series newcomers Alfio Andrea Spina and Stefano Costantini started strongly in eighth, with the top 10 rounded out by the #89 KTM of RTR Projects - for whom Petr Lisa makes his debut - and the #53 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG of Christophe Bourret and Pascal Gibon.
Ginetta clocked its first GT2 miles with the G56 GTX driven by Lawrence Tomlinson (Team CMR), as did Alfredo Hernandez Ortega in the BDR Competition by Grupo Prom Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2. Tresor Attempto Racing also turned its maiden series laps with Andrey Mukovoz and Lorenzo Patrese in the #66 Audi.
Next up for the Fanatec GT2 competitors is another 60 minutes of preparation with pre-qualifying from 15:20.