Preparations for this weekend's GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS event at Magny-Cours are well underway, with tonight's official paid testing session kicking off track activity at the French venue.
Getting underway at 20:15 CET, the two-hour run featured all of the 23 cars entered for the second Sprint Cup contest of the season. The #66 Attempto Racing Audi emerged quickest, lapping in 1m37.346s during the final minutes with Fred Vervisch at the wheel.
He narrowly pipped the #32 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT entry of Charles Weerts, who also posted his best effort late in proceedings. The #88 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG finished third having spent much of the test at the head of the order, while less than a second covered the top 14 cars when the chequered flag flew. Full session times can be viewed via the link at the bottom of this page.
Activity was halted by a red flag around the one-hour mark after the #108 CMR Bentley caught fire on the circuit. The driver was confirmed to be unharmed following the incident.
In a change to the originally published entry list, Mick Wishofer will drive the #6 Mercedes-AMG for Toksport WRT alongside Robin Rogalski. The 20-year-old Wishofer replaces Kris Heidorn, who drove for the German squad at Misano.
The field will be on-track once again tomorrow for free practice (14:35) and pre-qualifying (21:15), both of which run for 80 minutes. Live streaming will begin on Saturday, with qualifying for race one set to get underway at 14:40. The opening 60-minute contest will take place under the lights ay 22:15. There will be little time to rest on Saturday night, with qualifying for race two going green at 08.30 on Sunday morning, while the closing contest will get underway at 13:45.
The GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS action forms part of packed weekend that will see eight different series stage no fewer than 19 races. The GT3 category shares the headline slot with FFSA French GT Championship, while Porsche Carrera Cup France and Formula Renault Eurocup are also among the all-star cast.