RTR Projects climbed to the top of the times in Pre-Qualifying for the final round of the GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli at Barcelona, while Philippe Prette was fastest of those in the Am class.
Lap times were lowered considerably in the second 60-minute session of the day, as shown when the #89 KTM X-BOW GT2 of Mato Homola and Lennart Marioneck clocked an effort of 1:44.369s. That was a significant 1.6s quicker than the best time set during Free Practice this morning, and half a second clear of their closest rival.
Pierre Kaffer initially went quickest in the LP Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 entry that he shares with Otto Blank, but he was soon usurped by the KTM duo, as well as the flying #115 NM Racing (Mercedes-AMG GT2) entry, which finished second in the hands of Spaniards Nil Montserrat and Alberto De Martin.
Kaffer and Blank settled for third, as the top six cars were only covered by 1.020 seconds at the chequered flag. Free Practice pace-setters DINAMIC Motorsport finished fourth with Roberto Pampanini and Mauro Calamia aboard the #7 Maserati GT2, just ahead of Team MZR’s Reinhard Kofler and Marius Aigner (KTM).
Philippe Prette was again fastest of the Am class runners for LP Racing (Maserati) sixth overall, ahead of the CMR Ginetta G56 GT2 of Lawrence and Freddie Tomlinson which continues to rack up miles on its global racing debut.
The second of the RTR Projects crews clocked in seventh spot, with Petr Lisa and Ondrej Rokos piloting the #294 Mercedes-AMG. They were the first of three further Am squads completing the top 10, ahead of LP Racing’s Stéphane Ratel and Jean-Denis Deletraz (#8 Maserati) and the AKF Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo 2 of Oliver Freymuth.
Attention now shifts to the two all-important Qualifying sessions at 17:10 CEST, which will decide the grids for both of this weekend’s 60-minute races in Spain.