+ Result: Free Practice, Jeddah
Title-chasing Team Speedcar Audi drivers Benjamin Lariche and Robert Consani set the pace in opening Free Practice at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit this evening, taking full advantage of trouble of the championship rivals.
The #78 Elite Motorsport McLaren of points leaders Josh Rattican and Tom Lebbon was forced to skip the first official session of the event due to an exhaust issue, but had earlier traded fastest times with its Audi rivals during testing.
With the McLaren out, there would be no stopping Lariche and Consani, who both lowered the benchmark to keep the #3 R8 LMS out front. Lariche was fastest out of the blocks and was only briefly surpassed by Stanislav Safronov in the #5 Mirage Racing Aston Martin before Lariche put the Audi top again and handed across to Consani, who then improved twice to give the car a 0.4s advantage by the finish.
Safronov and Vaintrub held on to second overall, and the fastest time in Pro-Am ahead of the Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin shared by Mateo Villagomez and Jamie Day. Lluc Ibańez and Alex Papadopulos were fourth in the #15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG, with Gabriele Piana/Berkay Besler completing the top five in their Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW.
With the Mirage car well clear in Pro-Am, second in class went to returning AVR-Avvatar crew Alban Varutti and Julien Piguet, with AV Racing’s Noam Abramczyk and Paul Petit taking third in their Porsche. The championship-leading W&S Motorsport Porsche missed out on a lot of testing after accident damage early in the day, but some hard work from the team got Finn Zulauf and Max Kronberg back out for official practice, the pair finishing fifth in class.
Pascal Huteau and Laurent Hurgon dominated the Am contest, with the #55 Schumacher CLRT Alpine finishing 14th fastest overall. GPA Racing drivers Florent Grizaud and Kevin Jimenez were second in class but back in 22nd in their Aston Martin, as Andy Cantu and Charles Dawson put the #16 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG right behind in third, ensuring the top three finished in championship order.
Pre-Qualifying at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit takes place at 14:15 local time tomorrow.
