Blancpain GT Sports Club Overall points leader Anthony Pons stormed to the top of timesheets in Saturday’s second free practice held at Paul Ricard, logging a 2:09.348 flyer just before the 30-minute session was shortened by a red flag. In the Iron Cup, Willem Paulys de Pundert went quickest ahead of FP1 pacesetter Stephen Earle.
Driving the #72 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG, Pons recovered from an early spin to edge AF Corse’s Patrick van Glabeke, who had held the top spot for most of the contest in the #488 Ferrari 488 GT3. The Belgian ace eventually finished second, 0.788s adrift of the Frenchman.
Pons’ team-mate Mauro Ricci went third fastest in the #87 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3, pipping Boutsen Ginion’s Karim Ojjeh and the #2 BMW M6 GT3 by a mere 0.055s. After dominating the proceedings in FP1, AF Corse’s Alex Demirdjian slotted into fifth ahead of Autovitesse Garage R.Affolter’s Cedric Leimer and the #963 Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
In the Iron Cup category reserved for drivers aged 60 and over, Willem Paulys de Pundert denied Stephen Earle a clean sweep of practice sessions. The Dutch racer hoisted the #39 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 ahead of the Texan’s #111 Kessel Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. Up next in the pecking order were Artega Rennsport’s Klaus Dieter Frers (#3 Ferrari 488 GT3) and AF Corse’s Louis-Philippe Soenen (#50 Ferrari 488 GT3).
This afternoon’s qualifying session, which will determine the grid for Sunday’s Qualifying Race, starts at 15:30, Paul Ricard time. The all-important session will once again be shown live on our official website and Facebook page with commentary in both English and French.