The early morning cold and damp but drying conditions saw the early Bronze Test times well down on 2014, as twelve cars lapped under the two minute mark. The tricky conditions proved difficult for Sean Johnston in the #18 Black Falcon Merecedes SLS AMG GT3, who left the track and brought out a brief red flag to allow for recovery of the car from the gravel trap.
Halfway through the hour-long session, the sun broke through the clouds and the track began to dry. With fifteen minutes remaining lap times were falling fast; Denis Waszek, #70 GTRussian Mercedes SLS, the first driver under two minutes, posted a 1:58.628 lap and his team mate, Alexey Karachev, followed-up with a 1:58.544.
Five minutes later, Michael Broniszewski took the wheel of the #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari 458 and equalled last year’s fastest Bronze Test time, 1:58.2s, on his first flying lap, only for it to be immediately bettered by Paul Wilson’s #32 Leonard Motorsport AMR Vantage. These two were the only two Bronze drivers to dip below the 1:58s mark.
In due course, the dry track tempted a couple of PRO cars’ silver-rated drivers out for a run; Blancpain debutant Rory Butcher, #44 Oman Racing Team AMR Vantage GT3, topped the timesheet with 1:56.888 and Matheus Stumpf, #77 AH Competicoes Team Brasil BMW Z4, ended the session P2 with a 1:57.406.
At the chequered flag it was Paul Wilson's 1:57.592 lap in the #32 Leonard Motorsports Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT that was fastest Bronze driver lap in the Bronze Test, 0.669s ahead of the bronze session times from 2014.
Paul White, #32 Leonard Motorsport Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3: "We probably called our new tyre run a bit early as those times were set with quite a lot of fuel onboard. The car felt really good out of the box and let us push, so we'll go from there in Qually."
Rory Butcher, #44 Oman Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3: "It's a great experience to be here, I'm loving the atmosphere already. It's great to be out on track with such great cars, teams, drivers, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend."
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Time Schedule
Saturday, September 19th
Bronze Test 09:00 - 10:00
Free Practice 11:05 - 12:35
Pre Qualifying 16:15 - 17:45
Sunday, September 20th
Qualifying 08:30 - 09:30
Main Race 14:45 - 17:45
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