The #72 SMP Racing Ferrari has topped the opening Blancpain GT Series free practice session at Silverstone, making a strong start as the crew attempts to take pole position at successive Endurance Cup events.
Davide Rigon left it late, but his 1m58.781s edged out the #4 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG in the closing moments, confirming that the Italian machine has lost none of the one-lap speed it showed at Monza.
Credit: Craig Robertson
Black Falcon showed that they had retained their pace from the Italian round, having finished on the podium last time out. They were followed by the Pro-Am class AKKA-Mercedes, with French driver Nico Jamin setting the third-fastest lap of the session.
There was also an impressive turn of speed from another Pro-Am machine reigning British GT champion Seb Morris putting in some quick laps in the #31 Team Parker-Bentley to end the session in P4.
Credit: Craig Robertson
The fastest Silver Cup entry was the #90 AKKA-Mercedes, while the #77 Barwell-Lamborghini topped the Am Cup classification. Overall it was a very close session, with just 1.1s separating the top twenty cars.
There were a handful of minor incidents, though nothing that would warrant a full-course yellow. The #97 Aston Martin and the #911 Porsche both had spins within a few moments of each other, but both were able to continue.
Credit: Craig Robertson
The #114 Emil Frey Lexus parked up, seemingly with technical issues, bringing out the yellow flags in sector 3.
Both the #72 Ferrari, which was in the hands of Miguel Molina, and the #7 Bentley driven by Steven Kane, spun and ended the session stuck in the gravel trap, luckily neither driver made contact with the barriers.
The next track action takes place at 16.00 when the 90-minute pre-qualifying session gets underway.
