AF Corse led the way in testing at Spa-Francorchamps on Tuesday as preparations for the 78th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa entered their final phase.
Tommaso Mosca posted a 2m18.002s aboard the Italian marque's upgraded 458 GT3 to edge local favourite Maxime Martin by 0.091s. The #17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed driver set the exact same time as Dennis Marschall (#74 Kessel Racing Ferrari), with both circulating in 2m18.093s.
Marschall's effort was comfortably the best among the Bronze Cup runners, solidifying Kessel as the favourite to repeat last year's win. Two more class leaders were also among the overall top 10: Conrad Laursen (#71 Selected Car Racing Ferrari) was fifth and topped Gold; while debutant Christian Mansell (Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG) was P7 and the best of the Silvers.
The #0 JMR Corvette was the leading Pro-Am runner in P40 overall, with Ben Green setting the best time for the one-off entry from Malaysia. A total of 64 cars were on-track during the test, which ran from 14:40 until 16:40 local time. A little over an hour of running elapsed before the first red flag of the event, which was caused by the #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi finding the gravel at Bruxelles.
The Bronze Test ran shortly afterwards and was topped by Charles Dawson aboard the #222 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG. The British driver set the time late in the 60-minute session to beat fellow countryman Darren Leung (#991 Paradine Competition BMW) and Jonathan Hui (#93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche).
In other news, the grid for this weekend's race has been reduced to 69 cars following the withdrawal of the #81 Era Porsche, which had been entered in the Bronze Cup. Two drivers – Jake Hill and Kyle Tilley – had been confirmed ahead of the event. A number of line-ups have been finalised, including a full complement in the #917 Razoon Porsche. Among those announced on Tuesday are David Pittard in the #991 BMW and Lucas Legeret in the #25 Saintéloc Racing Audi.
Tomorrow's action centres on the parade, which will see all of the cars participating in the 24 Hours and the support races take the road connecting Spa-Francorchamps and Spa city centre. They will congregate in the shade of the trees in the Parc de Sept Heures and on the Place Royale, where drivers will sign autographs and mingle with spectators. As ever this is free to attend; for more information, please click here.
The next circuit activity takes place on Thursday with Free Practice 1 at 10:10. This will be followed by Free Practice 2 at 16:10, which marks the start of live streaming on the GT World YouTube channel.