+ Result: Free Practice, Spa-Francorchamps
Misano race winners Benjamin Lessennes and Ricardo van der Ende continued their hot streak by topping opening free practice at Spa-Francorchamps in their L’Espace Bienvenue BMW M4.
Having won the last race in Italy, Lessennes and Van der Ende came out fighting in Belgium – a track they also won at last season. Lessennes set the pace from the middle of the session, creating a comfortable gap back to his rivals before handing over for van der Ende for the second half.
A late effort from Max Kronberg put the #30 W&S Motorsport Porsche he shares with Finn Zulauf on top of the Pro-Am order, while Pascal Huteau and Laurent Hurgon once again led the way in the Am class in their Schumacher CLRT Alpine.
After an accident in testing, Gabriele Piana set the early pace in his replacement Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW, before handing to Berkay Besler as the car stayed out front for much of the first half. That was until Lessennes put in a scorching time, well under the current race lap record to put the #17 BMW over a second clear.
Guest entry Mikey Porter managed to trim Lessennes’ lead to 0.8s in the Forsetti Motorsport Aston Martin he will share with Aston Millar this weekend, but that is as close as anybody got to the runaway BMW.
An impressive lap from Kronberg inside the final three minutes secured the top Pro-Am time, the German putting the W&S Porsche third overall with a superb effort. Besler and Piana held fourth, with Leo Pichler and Herolind Nuredini fifth in the #22 Allied-Racing Porsche.
Championship leaders Josh Rattican and Tom Lebbon were sixth in their Elite Motorsport McLaren, ahead of their closest rival, the #9 Matmut Évolution Toyota GR Supra driven by Enzo Joulié and Etienne Cheli.
Another Misano winner, Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud, made a flying start to the session as Jimenez put the GPA Racing Aston Martin out front in the Am class. However Huteau and Hurgon soon found their stride, pulling a 0.7s gap on the Vantage to put the Schumacher CLRT just outside the top 10 overall. Jimenez and Grizaud were a comfortable second in class, with the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG of Andy Cantu and new team-mate Guillermo Aso third in the category.
Pre-Qualifying is scheduled for 18:30 this evening.