An in-form Mirko Bortolotti paced pre-qualifying at Imola, continuing his excellent start to life at Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.
Having led both of yesterday's official test sessions, the #31 machine was not among the leading contenders in this morning's free practice. This afternoon, a 1m41.702s lap from Bortolotti shortly before the one-hour mark ensured a return to top spot. Kelvin van der Linde and Matthieu Vaxivière will partner Bortolotti this weekend.
The Italian ace led a trio of Audi cars in the overall classification, beating the #66 Attempto machine of Frederic Vervisch and the #26 Sainteloc car driven by Arthur Rougier. The latter was also the top Pro-Am runner, capping an impressive display.
In the Silver Cup, Tech 1 Racing narrowly topped the times with its #15 Lexus. Aurelien Panis set the lap, edging out the #55 Attempto Audi driven by Nicolas Schöll. This duo finished seventh and eighth respectively in the overall classification.
All 46 cars ran in the session, with the lone Am Cup entrant – the #108 CMR Bentley – completing the order. Despite the competitive nature of the series, the session ran without a single stoppage and almost no off-track excursions. The results list can be viewed via the link at the bottom of this page.
The next on-track action will see drivers contest qualifying, which kicks off at 17.30. The crucial session will be streamed live on the GT World Challenge Europe website and Facebook page, as well as the GT World YouTube channel.