Maxi Götz proved you never lose the magic touch at the Total 24 Hours of Spa as the 2013 winner set the fastest time in Qualifying One for AMG-Team HTP Motorsport.
The team, in their Mercedes AMG GT3, took only four laps to set a time of 2:18.532 before giving DTM star Gary Paffett the opportunity to put in some quick laps in what is his first ever GT3 race before Thomas Jaeger also got the opportunity to do some running in the bright yellow Mercedes.
By going top, they pushed down a Pro-Am Cup entry into second place – the #56 Black Falcon car of Dani Juncadella which went quickest at the start of the 75 minute session by setting a 2:18.603 to just edge out Laurens Vanthoor who set a 2:18.659 in the Team WRT Audi R8 LMS to stop it being a complete Mercedes domination.
Behind the Audi was Tristan Vautier’s AMG-Team AKKA ASP car with the second Black Falcon car of Maro Engel rounding out the top five.
Elsewhere, Franck Perera finished second in Pro-Am Cup in the ISR Racing Audi with a 2:19.100 to put himself seventh overall and two places ahead of Andy Meyrick in the Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3 who set a 2:19.144.
In the Am Cup, it was again the Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 which claimed the honours lying 30th overall. Their next nearest challenger was down in 45th place as Giles Lallement set a fairly competitive time in the Sainteloc Racing Audi.
However, anyone looking to go faster were caught short at the end of the session as the remnants of an exploded tyre scattered debris on the run down to Bruxelles meant a red flag was called for and the field lost out on the last three minutes of running.
