Parker Thompson was fastest in the Morning Session on the second day of the official 24 Hours of Spa Prologue.
The Canadian driver set a 2:16.350 aboard the Bronze Cup #222 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the final hour of the 180-minute session, shortly after the track action resumed following a Red Flag. Thompson, notably, does not form part of 2 Seas’ driver line-up for the race.
Day 1 pace setter Saintéloc Racing was second and third, with Ivan Klymenko in the #26 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II 0.095 seconds behind Thompson, and Gilles Magnus in the #25 Audi a further 0.087 seconds back.
Klymenko’s co-driver Wyatt Brichacek was named against both the #26 Audi and Barwell Motorsport’s #76 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 on the entry list released yesterday. The American, however, has indicated that he will race in the Audi.
Harry King was fourth in the 2 Seas Motorsport-supported Verstappen.Com Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, which also led the Gold Cup.
George Kurtz improved late on to put his Pro/Am-entered #4 CrowdStrike by SPS AMG GT3 Evo fifth overall, with a 2:16.747.
Sixth overall was the fastest Pro entry, the #59 Garage 59 McLaren GT3 Evo of Marvin Kirchhöfer, ahead of #22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche 911 GT3.R (992) of Ayhancan Güven, and the #18 Dinamic GT Porsche of Matt Campbell.
The #76 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini completed the most laps of anyone, 53. This was one more than the #97 Rutronik Racing Porsche, which brought the session to an early end after stopping in the final sector.
This was one of two Red Flags, with the other triggered by an accident for Andrey Mukovoz in the #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi at Blanchimont.
A pair of Silver Cup entries, which didn’t run yesterday, the #24 Steller Motorsport Corvette Z06 GT3.R and #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi, both took to the track for the first time.
They were joined by a surprise addition to the session, as 1998 Le Mans winner Stephane Ortelli turned laps in a Comtoyou Racing Audi, which is not entered for the 24 Hours.
Afternoon Session
Steven Palette was fastest in the final session, aboard the Pro-Am Cup #28 Haas RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.
The French driver set a 2:16.291 at the start of the third of five hours of running. This was the fastest time on Day 2, but was 0.068 seconds slower than Gilles Magnus’ Day 1 benchmark.
Behind Palette, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos dominated the top 10 places.
Fabian Schiller was second overall in the #17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed entry, after setting a 2:16.355 late on. Edoardo Liberati was third, and fastest in Gold, aboard the #611 Nordique Racing AMG, with the Bronze Cup-leading #81 Winward Racing AMG GT3 Evo of Marvin Dienst fourth.
Elliott Skeer was fifth fastest in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3.R (992), ahead of the #4 CrowdStrike by SPS AMG of George Kurtz and Jesse Krohn in the #98 BMW M4 GT3 Evo.
Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER’s Matteo Cairoli was eighth, ahead of Boutsen VDS’ Maxime Martin and the Silver Cup-leading #3 GetSpeed AMG of Tom Kalender.
The #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo completed the most laps, 79. This was one more than the #63 GRT – Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2.
The most significant stoppage of the afternoon came at the end of the third hour, when the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3.R (992) stopped at Turn 13 and brought out the Red Flags.
The test came to an early end after a Red Flag in the closing minutes when Xavier Knauf stopped in Sector 2 aboard the session-topping Audi. This was of minimal impact to most teams, with many having already brought their running to a close.
AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors elected not to run their pair of Pro Ferrari 296 GT3s today, with other cars missing which competed on Day 1, including the #88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi, #333 Paul Motorsport Lamborghini and #777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW.
Notably, the #15 BMW Italia Ceccato Racing M4 GT3 Evo, which had an accident at Raidillon yesterday afternoon, did not return to the track today.
Following an accident in the Morning Session, the #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi was another car not to appear in the afternoon.
The 77th 24 Hours of Spa takes place 25-29 June. Before then, GT World Challenge Europe has meetings at Zandvoort (16-18 May) and Monza (30 May-1 June).
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
