Comtoyou Racing fastest in Brands Hatch pre-qualifying as Audi shows its pace

Comtoyou Racing fastest in Brands Hatch pre-qualifying as Audi shows its pace

Christopher Haase sent Comtoyou Racing to the top in pre-qualifying at Brands Hatch, leading a session in which Audi machinery was at the fore.

The German ace posted a 1m22.467s during the latter stages of the 60-minute session, edging the #14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari of long-time pace-setter Giacomo Altoé by 0.173s. 

In a repeat of this morning's result, the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi was a fine third overall. On this occasion it was Lorenzo Patrese at the wheel for the best lap – a 1m22.739s – after Alex Aka's impressive effort in free practice.  

The Gold Cup leader was next, ensuring that all three classes were present in the overall top-four. Gilles Magnus completed a fine day for Comtoyou Racing by posting a 1m22.991s, a little over half a second shy of teammate Haase. 

This morning's pace-setting #88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG was fifth, though on this occasion it was Timur Boguslavskiy who posted the lap time. A quartet of Audi runners followed, ensuring that the Ingolstadt marque could lay claim to six of the overall top eight. 

Also of note was the #28 Nova Race Honda, which enjoyed an encouraging session with the 12th best time overall. Porsche's best representative was the #54 Dinamic GT Huber Racing machine in 13th, while the Team WRT BMW runners were spread between 14th and 19th, Maxime Martin leading the way in the #46 machine. Lamborghini and McLaren endured a tough session, their best cars finishing 18th and 20th respectively. 

The session ran uninterrupted until the final moments when Thierry Vermeulen lost control of the #69 Ferrari, spinning and hitting the barriers. The damage to the Emil Frey Racing machine did not appear serious, though it was enough to end pre-qualifying a few minutes early. 

Cars will be back on-track at 15:55 BST for qualifying, which will set the grids for both of tomorrow's races at 11:05 and 16:10. All of the action will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel and the Fanatec GT Europe Facebook page.

> Pre-Qualifying Result