+ Result: Pre-Qualifying, Circuit Paul Ricard
Hendrik Still came out on top of a tight fight in Pre-Qualifying at Circuit Paul Ricard, leading the way for the W&S Motorsport Porsche team.
German ace Still hit the front with a late 2:12.183s effort, which was enough to move the #32 Pro-Am entry he shares with Joachim Bolting to the top of the times, ahead of an unpredictable Silver battle.
Ethan Gialdini set the early pace in the #10 CMR Ginetta, before Benjamin Lariche again made an appearance at the top of the times in the #3 Team Speedcar Audi. Then Hadrien David showed his potential by going fastest in the #87 Matmut Évolution Toyota and held the place until Gialdini fought back inside the second half of the session. That lap put the Ginetta 0.8s clear and it looked set to hold on until Still strapped into the Porsche 718 Cayman RS CS and shaved a further 0.2s off the benchmark inside the final quarter.
Gialdini and Senna van Walstijn held second ahead of reigning champion Josh Rattican and McKenzy Cresswell in the #78 Elite McLaren. An impressive run from Charlie Hart and Callum Davies helped the RAFA Racing by Race Lab Artura to fourth, ahead of Benjamin Lessennes and Ricardo van der Ende in the L’Espace Bienvenue BMW.
With Still well clear of his Pro-Am opposition, Victor Bouveng and Joakim Walde took second in the class times for Schubert Motorsport, with Cindy Gudet and Gabriela Jilkova third for Matmut Évolution.
Reigning Pro-Am champion Max Kronberg showed why he will be one to watch in Am this year by setting the fastest time in the class. The German put the #30 Porsche he shares with Daniel Blickle top early on and then fought off competition from Mikael and Cristoffer Brunnhagen (Toyota Gazoo Racing Sweden GR Supra) and Antoni de Barn and Jean-Mathieu Leandri (Chazel Technologie Course BMW) to secure the top time late in the session.
Qualifying is set to get underway at 14:00 local time.
