Slovakia Ring : Stephane Ortelli quickest in first Free Practice

Slovakia Ring : Stephane Ortelli quickest in first Free Practice

The first session of the Blancpain Sprint Series weekend at the Slovakiaring started under cloudy skies, but on a dry track. There were two notable last-minute changes to the entry list: Stephane Ortelli now teams up with German Fabian Hamprecht on the #9 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi, and on the #84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes Series leader Maximilian Buhk is replaced by Belgian Nico Verdonck.

The session started with a flurry of quick lap times, with Markus Winkelhock being the first to break the two-minute barrier at the wheel of the #6 Phoenix Racing Audi. His 1’59.948 was quickly bettered though and eventually it was Stephane Ortelli in the #9 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi who set the fastest time of the session (1’58.744), beating Jeroen Bleekemolen in the #28 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini by 0.372 seconds. David Fumanelli was in 3rd and quickest of the Silver Cup drivers, lapping the Slovakiaring with his #34 ROAL Motorsport BMW in 1’59.179. The #4 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi, leading the Silver Cup standings, went off into the barriers halfway through the session.
Marc Basseng was fastest in the Pro-Am Trophy, in 1’59.992.  

Free practice 2 starts at 14:30