A rapid lap from Klaus Bachler sent the #54 Dinamic Motorsport Porsche to the top of the order in free practice at Circuit Paul Ricard, with the Austrian ace putting more than half a second between himself and the rest of the 49-car field.
The #54 Porsche has already shown its capabilities this year by opening the season with victory at a rain-soaked Monza. Conditions could not have been more different during today's practice session, with bright sunshine and clear blue skies over the French track, but the Dinamic Motorsport car was once again on top.
Second overall – and quickest in the Silver Cup class – was the #90 AKKA ASP entry. Nico Bastian was at the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG for the lap, which was 0.526s off Bachler's best. The significance of the Dinamic Porsche's advantage is demonstrated by the fact that P2 through P18 were also covered by a little over half a second at the end of the 90-minute run.
The #87 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG was third quickest overall and the leading Pro-Am effort, with Jim Pla recording the car's quickest lap. Indeed, with a third AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG in fifth spot thanks to the #88 crew, the French squad appears to be in strong form for its home event.
The Am Cup class was topped by the #33 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari, which beat a number of Pro cars to finish an impressive P31 overall. Manuel Lauck set the time aboard class-leading Ferrari.
The full field will be on-track once again at 17.00 to contest pre-qualifying, which gives competitors another 90 minutes of running. Today's on-track action sets the scene for an even busier Saturday at Circuit Paul Ricard, with qualifying kicking off the day at 10.30. This will establish the grid for the main event, a 1,000km race that begins at 18.00 and runs into the night.
All of Saturday's action will be streamed live on the Blancpain GT Series website and across the championship's social media channels.