Mauro and Benjamin Ricci topped Saturday’s Fanatec GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli Pre-Qualifying session at Hockenheim, while their Akkodis ASP team-mates Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Gilles Vannelet headed the Am class.
The summer heatwave continued at the German circuit, where the Ricci father-son duo set the hottest pace across the hour with a best effort of 1:41.093s, lowering Friday’s benchmark by almost two seconds.
The #61 crew led a Mercedes-AMG GT2 one-two ahead of the Motorsport 98 entry of Eric De Doncker and Loris Hezemans, which ended just 0.4s adrift despite briefly coming to a halt at the exit of Turn 1.
The AMG stranglehold was broken by the LP Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 of Stéphane Ratel and Stefan Rosina, who finished third in the times to back up their strong Friday showing aboard the #88 car. The all-French pairing of Beaubelique and Vannelet were next up in the #87 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG, ensuring they ended the session as the quickest of the Am class runners.
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Free Practice pace-setters Michael Doppelmayr and Pierre Kaffer grabbed the final spot in the overall top five for the #18 Audi, with only 0.8s covering the lead quintet. Their LP Racing team-mates Leonardo Gorini and Carlo Tamburini followed closely having led in the early stages, ultimately finishing sixth in the #1 Maserati GT2.
Pro-Am points leaders Reinhard Kofler and Martin Koch placed seventh for Team MZR (KTM X-BOW GT2), ahead of Philippe Prette’s #2 Maserati, which survived a quick trip through the gravel. Rounding out the top 10 were NM Racing’s Stéphane Perrin and Jörg Viebahn in their Mercedes-AMG, and the #80 Razoon - More Than Racing KTM of Thomas Andersen and Simon Birch.
Two crucial Qualifying sessions await the Fanatec GT2 competitors from 17:00 this afternoon to decide the grids for Sunday’s races. Watch the action unfold live via the series’ website and the GT World YouTube channel, with commentary available in four different languages.