Team WRT struck back in pre-qualifying at Valencia as Dries Vanthoor sent the #32 Audi to the top of the timing screens.
The Belgian squad is seeking to add more Fanatec GT Sprint titles to its collection this weekend, and was in the perfect position at the conclusion of the afternoon run after the rival Akkodis ASP squad led this morning's free practice.
Vanthoor's 1m31.474s was 0.084s faster than Dennis Marschall could manage in the #66 Attempto Racing Audi, establishing a benchmark that could not be beaten. Dean MacDonald (#188 Garage 59 McLaren) delivered another impressive performance to finish P3 overall and at the top of the Pro-Am order, lapping just 0.252s shy of Vanthoor.
AF Corse edged Akkodis ASP to top the Silver Cup classification. The #53 Ferrari was fifth overall courtesy of Ulysse De Pauw, who alongside teammate Pierre Alexandre Jean sealed the title last time out at Misano. Casper Stevenson was 0.024s adrift in the #87 Mercedes-AMG.
The #89 Akkodis ASP entry of title contenders Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy was eighth overall, 0.442s shy of pace-setter Vanthoor. The Mercedes-AMG duo enter the deciding weekend of the season 11.5 points back from the WRT drivers.
As was the case with free practice, pre-qualifying ran without interruption and saw the full field of cars on-track to gather data for this weekend's contest. The opening qualifying session and race both take place tomorrow, which signals the start of live streaming in English, German, French and Italian on the GTWorld YouTube channel.
Saturday 17 September
09:00–09:20: Qualifying 1 LIVE
14:00–15:00: Race 1 LIVE
Sunday 18 September
09:00–09:20: Qualifying 2 LIVE
14:00–15:00: Race 2 LIVE
ALL TIMES CEST