Friday At Imola
Pre-Event Test
The 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS season is ready to begin after Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed led pre-event testing at Imola.
The German squad topped the timesheets with its Pro car thanks to a 1m40.816s lap from Steijn Schothorst. The Dutchman is back in the series this season following a two-year absence, partnering Mercedes-AMG factory drivers Maro Engel and Luca Stolz in the #2 machine.
British squad JOTA was second quickest with its McLaren, a mere 0.023s shy of the pace-setter. Mercedes-AMG Team Akkodis ASP was third and just 0.057s adrift of the GetSpeed car, followed by the #32 and #46 Audi entries from Team WRT.
Beechdean AMR topped the new Gold Cup class, finishing the session in 13th spot overall with its #97 Aston Martin. The fastest Silver Cup runner was one place back, with Akkodis ASP bagging 14th overall with its #87 Mercedes-AMG. Pro-Am was topped by another Mercedes-AMG outfit as SPS Automotive Performance led the way with its #20 machine.
Of the 52 cars competing this weekend, 50 were on-track during Wednesday’s pre-event test. With no activity on the circuit scheduled for Thursday, teams now have an opportunity to examine the data from yesterday’s running and fine-tune their equipment.
The bronze test runs on Friday at 16:00, followed on Saturday by free practice (09:00) and pre-qualifying (14:05). The key sessions take place on Sunday with qualifying at 09:00 and the season-opening three-hour race at 15:00. Live coverage begins with free practice and continues throughout the weekend across the championship’s social media channels.
Imola will also feature support action from the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Fanatec GT2 European Series and GT4 European Series, all of which will launch their seasons at the Italian venue. Virtual motorsport will play its part, too, with the Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series beginning its five-round championship at 19:05 on Saturday.
Bronze Test
Hugo Valente put the series newcomer Tresor by Car Collection on top in this afternoon’s bronze test to officially kick off the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS season at Imola.
The Frenchman posted a 1m41.739s lap at the wheel of the #11 Audi to beat Jonathan Hui (#93 Sky Tempesta Racing Mercedes-AMG) by 0.262s. Valente was one of several silver-graded drivers contesting the session under special dispensation. Jens Liebhauser was third at the wheel of the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG which, like the similar #93 machine, will compete in the new Gold Cup class this weekend.
Today’s bronze test was busier than usual thanks to the addition of several silver-graded drivers, including pace-setter Valente, Nicholas Baert (#26 Saintéloc Racing Audi) and Stuart White (#14 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini) as well as nine cars from the supporting Fanatec GT2 European Series.
The session ran uninterrupted and under blue skies, the clouds having cleared from above the Italian track shortly before the green flag flew at 16:00. Indeed, following a day of rain on Thursday the forecast is for a dry weekend at Imola.
The next track activity will be free practice at 09:00 on Saturday morning, which marks the start of live streaming across the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS website and social media channels. This will be followed at 14:05 by pre-qualifying, while the key sessions take place on Sunday with qualifying at 09:00 and the season-opening three-hour race at 15:00.
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