+ Result: Free Practice, Spa-Francorchamps
Charlie Hart’s early effort helped the RAFA Racing by RACE LAB team to the top of the times in a soaking wet first session at Spa-Francorchamps.
Heavy rain led to much of the session being a washout and, with brighter weather forecast for the remainder of the event, many cars opted against venturing out to tackle the conditions.
Of those that did, Nathan Vanspringel’s Ford Mustang was first to set a time, before Hendrik Still bettered it in the #32 W&S Motorsport Porsche. Mathieu Detry (AV Racing Porsche) and Victor Bouveng (Schuberth Motorsport BMW) then took a turn out front before Still set a time over a second better than anybody and pitted to hand to team-mate Joachim Bölting for the remainder of the session.
Hart had been in the lead group since the start, and gradually cut the gap to Still before improving on his sixth lap to go 0.2s clear at the top. With the rain increasing, that would be the last of the meaningful improvements, leaving Hart and Callum Davies’ #812 McLaren out front.
Still’s time was enough to hold second and top Pro-Am spot, with Gabriele Piana and Berkay Besler third in the #12 Borusan Otomotiv BMW. Detry and Fabian Duffieux were fourth with Aston Millar/Julius Dinesen putting the sister RAFA McLaren fifth. Benjamin Lessennes/Ricardo van der Ende rounded out the top six in their L’Espace Bienvenue BMW.
Daniel Blickle and Max Kronberg took top spot in Am, their W&S Motorsport Porsche finishing ahead of points leaders Jean-Mathieu Leandri and Antoni de Barn’s Chazel Technologie Course BMW. The Seyffarth Motorsport Audi of newcomers Bernd Schaible/Tobias Erdmann was third in the order.
Three red flags punctuated the session, the first to recover the #51 CMR Ginetta from the gravel, the second to clear an oil spill and a final one which cut the session a few minutes short after the #310 Willi Motorsport BMW endured a spin at Raidillon.
Notable cars not to run included the twin Team Speedcar Audis, with Silver leaders Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche not appearing, plus Erik Evans/Marco Signoretti’s Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang, which only completed two laps before boxing.
Pre-Qualifying is set for 20:00 this evening.