Sven Müller gave Rutronik Racing the ideal start to its home event by topping Free Practice at Hockenheim. The #96 Porsche circulated in 1m39.022s, leading a close-fought session at the German venue.
Müller set the time with 30 of the 80 minutes remaining, knocking Lucas Auer (#48 Winward Racing Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG) off top spot by just 0.081s. Notably, it marks the first time this term that the Rutronik squad has finished fastest overall in a Fanatec GT Europe session.
The team's pace was confirmed by the sister #97 Porsche finishing P3 overall and leading the Bronze Cup class. Dennis Marschall – who was equally impressive during last season's visit to Hockenheim – was 0.170s shy of Müller in the car he shares with Dustin Blattner.
Max Hofer was next in the #6 Liqui-Moly Team Engstler by OneGroup Lamborghini, which paced the Gold Cup class thanks to a 1m39.229s. Hockenheim is the team's first Fanatec GT Europe event using the Huracán GT3 EVO2 having previously run with Audi.
The Silver Cup pace-setter was also among the top 10. Ivan Klymenko posted a 1m39.358s aboard the #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi, maintaining the form that saw the young Ukrainian bank class pole at Misano.
There were a number of surprise absentees from the top 10, though Free Practice does not always give a clear picture of the competitive order. The Emil Frey Racing squad was 11th and 12th with its Ferrari entries, which the points-leading #32 Team WRT BMW was only 15th.
The session saw one stoppage around 15 minutes from the end. Nicolas Baert crashed the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin at the final corner, requiring a brief red flag period. Fortunately, the Belgian driver was unharmed. The only absentee from the session was the #51 Racing Team Turkey Ferrari, which also missed Thursday's pre-event test.
Cars will be back on-track at 15:00 CEST for a one-hour Pre-Qualifying session.
> RESULT: Free Practice, Hockenheim 2024