The Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS season got formally underway this week with the traditional two-day Prologue test at Circuit Paul Ricard.
This year 53 cars took part and it was a Mercedes-AMG GT3 that topped the combined times courtesy of 2 Seas Motorsport. The Bahraini team completed a 1:52.800 on Wednesday morning with its #60 example which is entered in the Gold class.
No driver IDs are available for the test, so it is not known whether Sh. Isa Al Khalifa, Lewis Williamson or Martin Kodrić – who are due to compete together with the team in the Endurance Cup this season – set the time.
That time though, was just 0.030 faster than the #998 ROWE Racing BMW which ended up second in the session and combined times.
The M4s in the pack ran at a fast pace on both days. The #32 from WRT stood out, topping both sessions on Tuesday, and then the final session on Wednesday. Its best time across both days was set in the final run on Wednesday afternoon, a 1:52.851, putting it two-tenths clear of the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes.
Across the two days of running in the sunshine, it was a Ferrari – the #8 296 GT3 from Kessel – that completed the most laps with 263. Several cars also made the most of the track time and completed over 1,000 kilometres on the French circuit, which is hosting the opening round of the season next month.
The running was important for every team ahead of the season, but in particular, it was crucial for the teams competing with new-for-2024 machinery.
Comtoyou Racing and Walkenhorst were on hand with their new Aston Martin AMR Vantage GT3s, logging plenty of laps, and Proton brought its #64 Pro class Ford Mustang GT3.
The German team is a late addition to the World Challenge Europe Pro class, after Ford Performance’s initial plans for the Mustang to compete with Dinamic GT fell through late in the off-season.
Proton, fresh from competing with a pair of Mustang LMGT3s in the FIA WEC season opener in Qatar last weekend, missed the opening session on Tuesday Morning and completed just four laps that afternoon.
Happily, Wednesday was far more productive. The team completed 48 tours in third session and 23 in the final run. Its best time was a 1:53.549 that morning.
Dinamic GT meanwhile, was also in action, having made the switch back to Porsche. The Italian team’s Bronze Cup-entered #54 911 set a best time of 1:53.603 in the final session.
There was a smattering of red flag stoppages across the two days. Beyond red flags for oil and debris on track, French outlet Endurance Info reported that on Tuesday the testing was neutralised due to a Walkenhorst Aston Martin and AF Corse Ferrari stopping on track and the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin hitting the barriers at Turn 7.
Then on Wednesday, the #88 Tresor Attempto Audi had an off at Turn 2 and the #93 Sky Tempesta Ferrari and #111 CSA Audi brought the action to a halt after stopping on track.
With the test now complete, the opening round of the season, the Endurance Cup race at Circuit Paul Ricard, is set to run on April 5-7.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
