Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed topped Friday's Free Practice at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with Jules Gounon leading the way in a two-hour session that began in daylight and ended with the sun setting over the Red Sea.
Gounon was the first driver to break the two-minute barrier, posting a 1m59.839s at the halfway mark. He subsequently shaved a further three hundredths of this to end Free Practice with a 1m59.804s.
Matteo Cairoli came within touching distance of Gounon's benchmark with a 1m59.894s during the final 30 minutes. In doing so, the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini jumped ahead of Maro Engel, whose time of 2m00.093s demonstrated that the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter entry is fully up to speed following its testing accident on Thursday.
Gold Cup title favourite Saintéloc Racing placed fourth overall with Gilles Magnus at the wheel of the #25 Audi. The #98 Rutronik Racing Porsche continued the strong pace it demonstrated on Thursday by placing fifth overall and leading the Bronze Cup thanks to Loek Hartog. The #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG was sixth, followed by the title-chasing #51 AF Corse Francorchamps Motors Ferrari.
Saintéloc Racing also paced the Silver Cup with its #26 Audi. Kobe Pauwels posted a 2m00.494s to place 19th overall. A total of 47 cars were on-track during Free Practice following the withdrawal of the #36 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin, which crashed during yesterday's Bronze Test.
In contrast with Thursday's sessions, Free Practice brought almost no on-track incidents. A number of cars brushed the wall as they tested the limits of the high-speed Jeddah Corniche Circuit, but there were no stoppages during the two-hour run.
However there was more bad news for the Walkenhorst squad, which suffered a serious fire on its #35 Aston Martin. No one was harmed in the incident, though the car's continued participation in the event is unclear.
Track activity continues later today with Pre-Qualifying at 20:15, followed on Saturday by Qualifying at 11:45 and the Six Hours of Jeddah at 17:00. As ever, all of the action will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel.
> Result: Free Practice