Juuso Puhakka put Toksport WRT on top in free practice 2 at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, leading a session that saw Mercedes-AMG machinery demonstrate particularly strong pace.
The Finn went quickest around halfway through the 80-minute run, posting a 1m46.253s to shoot to the top of the timing screens in the #2 AMG GT3. He also led the Silver Cup classification in the car he shares with Oscar Tunjo.
Second went to the overall championship-challenging #4 HRT Mercedes. The German squad had spent FP1 and most of FP2 towards the bottom of the times until Maro Engel emerged during the final minutes of the second session and began reeling off fast laps. His best was just 0.046s shy of Puhakka, giving the HRT crew a considerable boost ahead of the deciding weekend.
The Emil Frey Racing Lamborghinis continued their recent strong form by placing third and fourth, the #14 of Ricardo Feller edging the sister #163 of Albert Costa by 0.184s. Fifth went to the Pro-Am leader, Dominik Baumann, who produced a fine showing in the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes. Indeed, this was a particularly positive session for the German marque, with Mercedes-AMG GT3s making up half of the top 10.
Having missed FP1, the #32 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT entry was back on-track for this afternoon's run. Charles Weerts posted its best time, lapping in 1m46.876s to finish eighth overall. All 21 cars were involved in FP2, with no incidents to speak of during the session.
Saturday will begin with pre-qualifying at 09.15, followed by the opening qualifying session (12.50) and race (17.15). Sunday will be the deciding day of the Sprint Cup season, with back-to-back qualifying sessions at 09.00 followed by one-hour races at 12.25 and 16.30. From Saturday onwards, all of the action will be streamed live on the official GT World Challenge Europe website and Facebook pages, as well as the GT World YouTube channel.