The #9 Black Falcon Mercedes AMG GT3 of Hubert Haupt, Yelmer Buurman, Maro Engel and Dirk Müller ran fastest in Free Practice to kick off the 2016 Nürburgring 24 Hours. The best time from the car in the 90-minute session was a 8:20.018 on its second tour of the circuit with Maro Engel driving; the car only completed two laps however.
Second and 2.1 seconds back, was the #8 Haribo Racing AMG Mercedes of Uwe Alzen, Lance David Arnold, Max Getz and Jan Seyffarth making it a Mercedes 1-2, with the Land Motorsport Audi R8 of Marc Basseng, Connor De Phillippi, Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Scheider third quickest.
Fourth was the #29 HTP Mercedes AMG GT3 of Christian Vietoris, Marco Seefried, Christian Hohenadel and Renger Van der Zande after an early lap of 8:23.015 which put it second for the majority of the session.
Rounding out the top five was the first of the two WRT Audis, of Stuart Leonard, Robin Frijns, Edward Sandstorm, Frederic Vervisch after a 8:23.240 with the sister reigning-champion #1 Audi ending up sixth, a few tenths behind.
The first of the Porsches on the entry came in seventh, after Michael Christensen set a 8:23.572 with just under an hour remaining. And quickest BMW M6 meanwhile was a lowly 12th with the #22 ROWE Racing car proving quickest of the brand, which was hit by BoP change after VLN 3.
With the forecast looking bleak for much of the weekend, it was a pleasant surprise for the teams and drivers to get some track time in warm weather. The only incident of note in the session was the #11 Audi Race Experience R8 running slowly after a front-right puncture. The car had no visible damage and kept out of trouble.
The first of the three qualifying sessions starts tonight at 20:00 local time in Germany, running at night until 23:30.
