Tuesday Morning Session
Iron Lynx topped the morning session at Spa-Francorchamps with its #51 Ferrari as the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa test days began amid challenging weather conditions.
The rain had already been falling for some time when running began at 09:00 CEST and it intensified as the morning progressed. This resulted in a number of red flag periods interrupting the three-hour session, while the weather continued to worsen as lunch approached.
Alessandro Pier Guidi posted the best time of the morning at the wheel of the #51 Iron Lynx Ferrari. The Italian driver’s lap of 2m30.777s was 0.870s clear of the #37 Team WRT Audi. Saintéloc Racing (#25 Audi), KCMG (#47 Porsche) and HRT (#5 Mercedes-AMG) completed the top-five.
The #24 Car Collection Audi, the #61 EBM Giga Racing Porsche (blown engine) and the #99 Attempto Racing Audi were among the cars to hit trouble, while the #163 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini caused minor barrier damage but was able to return to the pits under its own power.
The #30 Team WRT Audi completed the most laps during the session, logging 36 tours of the 7km track. Indeed, it was a successful morning for the Belgian squad, with all four WRT cars completing in excess of 30 laps.
Afternoon Session
KCMG ended the first day of official testing at Spa-Francorchamps on top thanks to a 2m22.155s lap from Edoardo Liberati at the wheel of the #18 Porsche.
The Italian driver was 0.562s clear of his nearest challenger around the 7km circuit, completing a day on which Porsche machinery showed impressive pace ahead of the brand’s bid for a third successive TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa victory.
The #71 Iron Lynx Ferrari was second, continuing the form of the sister #51 car that led the morning run. Saintéloc Racing was once again third quickest with its #25 Audi, followed by Porsche squads GPX Racing and Dinamic Motorsport.
Inception Racing (#70 McLaren) ended the afternoon as the best-placed Pro-Am team in ninth overall, immediately followed by Silver Cup leader Grasser Racing (#16 Lamborghini). The top Am Cup contender was not too far behind as Hageli by T2 Racing took 13th overall with its #166 Porsche.
The session concluded a day on which Spa experienced a familiar summer downpour. But there was an upside to the rain: teams were able to complete extensive mileage using the latest evolution of Pirelli’s wet compound tyre, conducting work that could prove crucial during next month’s race.
While the morning session had featured several red flag interruptions there were only two stoppages during the afternoon, the first for the #222 Team Parker Racing Porsche and the second for Saintéloc Racing’s #27 Audi. What’s more, with conditions improving the quickest afternoon times were around eight seconds better than the morning pace.
The test days conclude on Wednesday using the same format, running from 09:00 until 12:00 and again from 13:00 through to the chequered flag at 18:00.
