Saintéloc Racing led the way in this morning's wet-dry Free Practice at the Nürburgring with its #25 Audi. Gilles Magnus went fastest overall with seven minutes left on the clock, taking advantage of a drying track following an earlier rain shower to post a 1m56.043s.
The #163 Grasser Racing Lamborghini was at the top of the timing screens for much of the two-hour session. Jordan Pepper recorded a 1m56.268s before the weather deteriorated and his car still occupied P2 when the chequered flag fell, despite a flurry of improvements.
The #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter entry was third after a late flyer from Lucas Auer, who was 0.264s shy of Magnus' benchmark. The #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi was fourth and topped the Bronze Cup class – just as its sister car was the best Gold runner – with Ugo De Wilde at the wheel.
The remainder of the top 10 was made up of Pro cars. Most notably, the #84 Audi of series newcomer Eastalent Racing finished eighth overall having spent much of the session in P2. The experienced Albert Costa set a 1m57.079s for the Austrian squad.
Winward Racing was the best of the Silver Cup runners in P26 overall. Colin Caresani posted a 1m57.988s aboard the #57 Mercedes-AMG, which leads its class standings heading into this weekend's three-hour race.
The session was staged in a variety of weather conditions, most notably mist and occasional rain showers. The track temperature ranged between 15 and 17 degrees celsius, making it particularly tricky to generate heat in the Pirelli tyres. Indeed, the #32 Team WRT BMW made two trips through the gravel after seeming to run out of grip at relatively low speed.
Cars will be back on-track at 13:15 for a one-hour Pre-Qualifying session. Qualifying and the three-hour Endurance Cup race are scheduled for Sunday at 08:45 and 15:00 respectively, with all of the action free to view on the GT World YouTube channel.
> RESULTS: Free Practice, Nürburgring 2024