Jules Gounon put Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed on top in Thursday's pre-event test at the Nürburgring.
The three-hour session featured all of the 61 cars entered in this weekend's Endurance Cup round and was run in largely dry conditions, a welcome change from the rain that hit the Eifel venue during the morning. Indeed, while the track was still wet at the start, the sun was shining by the time the chequered flag fell.
Gounon's time of 1m56.298s was 0.013s faster than Ben Tuck (#777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW) and 0.047s better than Maximilian Götz (#9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG), ensuring that German machinery locked out the top three positions.
Next up were a pair of Aston Martins, with Nicki Thiim fourth in the #7 Comtoyou Racing entry and Thierry Vermeulen fifth in the #33 Verstappen.com Racing machine. Ferrari, Ford and Audi were also among the top 10 at the conclusion of the session. Less than one second separated the fastest 46 cars, including at least one representative from all 10 manufacturers.
In other news, there have been a number of tweaks to the entry list since it was revealed one week ago. Having previously raced the #24 Steller Motorsport Corvette, Matisse Lismont will now drive the #30 Team WRT BMW in place of Gustav Bergström.
Tom Lebbon will make his series debut with 2 Seas Motorsport. The reigning GT4 Europe champion replaces the previously announced Kiern Jewiss in the #222 Mercedes-AMG. Marta Garcia will not make her debut this weekend as was originally planned, with Mathieu Detry and Fabian Duffieux set to run as a duo in the #888 UNX Racing Porsche.
James Baldwin returns to the controls of the #188 Garage 59 McLaren, joining Tom Fleming and Guilherme Oliveira in what is now a Silver Cup entry. This will be Baldwin's first appearance since Jeddah 2024. Another returnee is Adam Christodoulou, who will drive the #611 Nordique Racing Mercedes-AMG in place of Kazuto Kotaka. This will be Christodoulou’s first start since the opening Endurance race of 2024.
The next track session is the Bronze Test, which runs at 16:00 on Friday. Live coverage begins on Saturday with Free Practice getting underway at 09:15, followed by Pre-Qualifying at 14:25. Qualifying runs at 09:00 on Sunday, building up to the main event at 15:00. Head to the GT World YouTube channel to follow all of the action.
> RESULTS: Paid Test Session