Archie Hamilton's Total 24 Hours of Spa debut got away to a stuttering start as aprt of the four man driving line up for DB Motorsport.
Minor mechanical issues with the teams' GT3 BMW Z4 delayed Archie's first stint of the race weekend, but the young British driver quickly got up to speed behind the wheel before being plunged into the darkness in the session.
“I'm comfortable in the car now,” said Hamilton. “I learnt the track on a simulator and then in a track car so it's not been too big a jump. The BMW's got so much downforce! It's like a GT1 car. The team did well to sort out the niggles and although we lost some track time hopefully we're in better shape for the race and we've got really good speed. The rain and dark are a challenge but it's an awesome experience. I'm really looking forward to Saturday so resting tomorrow's going to be a test of patience.”
However, drying conditions meant that it was the final session that decided the starting spots. Xavier Maassen, pushing to move the no.44 car further up the grid went off the still damp track at the Eau Rouge damaging the car enough to end their session.
With Friday a down day for the Total 24 Hours of Spa field the team have to repair the car, with Saturday morning's warm-up the next time Hamilton will drive the legendary Belgian track.
