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Gounon Tops Dubai Free Practice

Jules Gounon leads Mercedes 1-2 in Dubai 24H practice session…

Photo: 24H Series

Jules Gounon set the quickest time in Free Practice for the Hankook 24H Dubai, leading a Mercedes-AMG 1-2.

The Mercedes-AMG factory driver reeled off a best lap of 1:58.733 aboard the No. 4 Abu Dhabi Racing by HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which he shares with Khaled al Qubaisi, Hubert Haupt and Sebastien Baud.

He outpaced the No. 27 Heart of Racing by SPS Mercedes of Ross Gunn by 0.550 seconds, with the Aston Martin factory ace placed aboard the car as a replacement for Alex Riberas.

Gunn set his fastest time with just over one minute remaining in the two-hour session, which subsequently bumped the No. 91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R of Robert Renauer to third place.

Sven Mueller took fourth in the No. 911 Pure Racing Porsche, with Fran Rueda completing the top five in the No. 76 7TSIX McLaren 720S GT3.

The Spanish driver also set the pace in GT3 Am as a result, only 0.035 seconds ahead of CP Racing’s Charles Espenlaub in sixth overall.

Earl Bamber was seventh in the Grove Racing Porsche, ahead of Team WRT’s Dries Vanthoor.

The top ten was rounded out by the No. 21 HAAS RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II and the No. 777 Al Manar Racing by HRT Mercedes.

Mathys Jaubert led the 992 class for SebLajoux Racing by DUWO Racing, with the No. 408 ROFGO with Dragon Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Stuart Hall quickest in GT4. Rob Huff led the TCR class for Wolf-Power Racing.

The session was interrupted by Code 60 on three occasions, two of which were caused by crashes by the No. 990 MRS GT-Racing and No. 930 QMMF by HRT Suhail Qatar Porsches, respectively.

Track action for the 24H Dubai continues with the first qualifying sessions for TCR, TCX and GT4 cars at 1:45 p.m. local time (4:45 a.m. ET) with GT qualifying at 2.30 p.m. (5.30 a.m. ET). Live coverage can be found on the 24H Series YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Free Practice

Davey Euwema is Sportscar365's European Editor. Based in The Netherlands, Euwema covers the FIA World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, among other series.

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