Alvaro Parente, who shares the #9 K-PAX Racing McLaren with Côme Ledogar and Shane Van Gisbergen, was quickest in the first free practices for the 2016 Motul Sepang 12 Hours. The Portuguese driver set his laptime, a 2.03.468 for the 5,542 km long Malaysian track, in the first free practice session.
Two other cars managed to break the 2’04 barrier, the #35 Hubauto Racing Ferrari and the #911 Manthey Racing Porsche. In the second free practice session, run in the dark, René Rast was quickest at the wheel of the #16 Audi Sport Team Phoenix R8, clocking a 2’04.127.
The fastest GTC car was the #26 B-Quik Racing Audi, a lap time set by Peter Kox. In GT4 the #69 Ayelzo Ecotint Racing Ginetta had a difficult start of the day, managing only a few laps in the first session. The fastest time in the category went to the sister car, the #55 Simpson Motorsport Ginetta.
The fastest of the Touring Cars was the #65 Seat Leon TC, from the #77 Jim Hunter Motorsport Subaru. Both were beaten in lap times by both the MARC cars, the #93 Mazda 3 V8 being the quickest over the two free practice sessions.
Both sessions were briefly interrupted to evacuate a car that came to a halt. Tomorrow sees the third and final free practice session starting at 11.00 (UTC +8), with qualifying starting at 15.00. The Top 15 Shootout, which starts at 16.30, will determine the starting grid for the final round of the 2016 Intercontinental GT Challenge. The qualifying session and the shootout will be streamed live on both the Intercontinental GT Challenge and Sepang 12 Hours websites.
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