A trio of one-hour sessions have officially launched this weekend's season-closing Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS contest at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Cars were on-track at 09:00 CEST for the first of two pre-event tests, which saw all 48 participants turning laps at the Spanish venue. The morning session was a stop-start affair, with three red flags preventing anything resembling a long run.
The second accident was the most serious. Sean Walkinshaw lost control of the #90 Madpanda Motorsport Mercedes-AMG at the final corner, resulting in contact with the inside and then outside barriers. The car was badly damaged, though the local squad intends to be back in action tomorrow.
The #159 Garage 59 McLaren was quickest in the opening session, with Dean MacDonald posting a 1m45.585s in the Silver Cup car. The Scottish driver is making his second consecutive start in this entry, having previously deputised for Ethan Simoni at Hockenheim.
The afternoon outing was rather less fraught. Running from 13:10, it saw Dennis Lind finish on top with a 1m45.536s at the wheel of the #111 JP Motorsport McLaren.
The bronze test concluded the day and once again saw a McLaren fastest at the chequered flag. It was Garage 59 again, though this time the #188 entry was quickest courtesy of a 1m46.319s from Miguel Ramos. This was another clean session, with no significant problems arising for the 16 drivers that took part.
Live coverage begins on Saturday morning when free practice goes green at 09:00. From this point onwards, every second of the action will be live right up to Sunday's season finale, which gets underway at 15:00 CEST.
SATURDAY 1 OCTOBER
09:00–10:30 – Free Practice LIVE
13:40–15:10 – Pre-Qualifying LIVE
18:45–19:45 – Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series LIVE
SUNDAY 2 OCTOBER
09:00–10:00: Qualifying LIVE
15:00–18:00: Three-Hour Race LIVE