The #49 Ram Racing Mercedes-AMG topped this afternoon’s pre-qualifying session at Silverstone, where teams made their final preparations before a hectic day of on-track action tomorrow.
The Pro-Am class machine was in the hands of Euan Hankey when it set the lap – a 1m57.447s – to beat the similar car of Strakka Racing by 0.288s. Lewis Williamson was at the wheel of the #42 Mercedes, which also runs in Pro-Am.
Third – and the quickest Pro class machine – was the #14 Emil Frey Racing Lexus. Christian Klien set the time, while the sister #114 machine also showed real pace in what was the Japanese marque’s most promising session of its maiden Blancpain GT Series season.
The #90 AKKA-Mercedes was once again quickest of the Silver Cup runners, taking P9 overall, while the sister #89 car was quickest in the Am Cup class. The French squad’s Am effort ended the session an impressive P30 from the field of 50.
The session was largely free of incident, with a full-course yellow to clear debris the only interruption of note.
A handful of late off-track excursions – which included Kelvin van der Linde and Alex Brundle taking trips through the grass – did no visible damage to the cars involved.
Following a relaxed day by Blancpain GT Series standards, tomorrow sees a flurry of action. Qualifying takes place at 09.45 BST, followed by a three-hour race at 15.00
All of the action will be available to watch live on the Blancpain GT Series website.