Boutsen VDS paced the pre-event test session that ran on Thursday at Misano. The #9 Mercedes-AMG posted a 1m32.485s in the hands of Jules Gounon during the latter stages of the three-hour run.
It comes after Gounon and fellow Mercedes-AMG factory driver Maximillian Gotz secured Boutsen VDS its maiden overall podium last time out at Brands Hatch; this weekend, the #9 crew will hope to earn the squad its first win.
Eliseo Donno continued his impressive start to the campaign by setting the second best time aboard the #71 AF Corse Ferrari. The young Italian was 0.037s shy of Gounon's benchmark and comfortably the fastest Silver Cup entrant.
Third overall went to the #32 Team WRT BMW of Dries Vanthoor. This car was fastest for the first two hours and is sure to remain a threat all weekend, Vanthoor and Charles Weerts having racked up seven overall wins at Misano.
Eddie Cheever III was fourth overall and fastest in the Bronze Cup. The #93 Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari – which Cheever shares with Jonathan Hui – was just one place ahead of its closest class rival, the #54 Dinamic GT Porsche.
The best of the Gold Cup runners was the #25 Saintéloc Racing Audi. Gilles Magnus placed 10th overall in the French squad's machine, which was a class winner last time out at Brands Hatch. A total of 34 cars participated in the test, the exception being the #18 Eurodent GSM Lamborghini.
In other news, the grid has been reduced to 35 cars due to the withdrawal of the #11 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin. This was listed in the Bronze Cup on the provisional entry list, albeit without confirmed drivers. Comtoyou Racing still has a busy weekend ahead with cars competing in the Pro, Gold and Silver classes.
The event begins in earnest tomorrow morning at 09:00 CEST with a one hour and 40 minutes of Free Practice, followed at 15:50 by a one-hour Pre-Qualifying session. Qualifying takes place under the lights at 21:10 and signals the start of live streaming on GT World.
The main action all takes place on Saturday. Race 1 gets underway at 14:00, followed by Race 2 at 21:00. The latter is set to be the first Fanatec GT Europe Sprint Cup contest staged after dark since 2021.
> Result: Misano Test Session
