+ Result: Free Practice, Nürburgring
Hendrik Still waited until the final lap to set the fastest time of opening Free Practice at the Nürburgring, putting the #32 Porsche on top on home turf.
It looked for much of the session like Hadrien David’s early best would go the distance for the #38 Matmut Évolution Toyota, but a flurry of late improvements knocked the Frenchman down to third and opened the door for Still.
Still set the early pace as the 38-car field headed out for the first session of the day, before David pulled a few tenths clear on his sixth lap. That time stood right until the final stages, when Still buckled back in and went 0.2s faster to put himself and team-mate Joachim Bölting on top in the Pro-Am leading Porsche.
Berkay Besler had repeatedly threatened David’s time toward the end, but it was his team-mate Gabriele Piana who would eventually work past into second overall and fastest in Silver in the #12 Borusan Otomotiv BMW. David and Jan Duran would hold third, with Schubert Motorsport’s Joakim Walde and Viktor Bouveng an impressive fourth.
Benjamin Lessennes and Ricardo van der Ende – the series’ most successful driver at this circuit – were fifth for L’Espace Bienvenue BMW as Paul Petit and Gregory Guilvert rounded out the top six in their Team Speedcar Audi. Title chasers Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche had a quiet session, finishing down in 20th overall.
Max Kronberg made it a double top for W&S, working his way to the top of the Am times. Daniel Blickle initially put the #30 Porsche out front before title rivals Jean-Mathieu Leandri and Antoni de Barn fought back in their Chazel Technologie Course BMW. Hans Holmlund then got himself into the fight in the #90 Toyota Gazoo Racing Sweden Supra, before Kronberg settled the matter by pulling clear late on. Holmlund wound up second, just ahead of Leandri/de Barn.
Pre-Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 14:50 local time.