Frijns Quickest in Free Practice 1 in Macau

Photo: John Dagys

Robin Frijns led the way in the opening Free Practice for this weekend’s FIA GT World Cup in Macau, in a strong early showing from Audi.

The Dutchman laid down a best lap of 2:18.588 in his No. 66 Team WRT Speedstar Audi R8 LMS to go quickest in the 30-minute scheduled session, which was extended following a red flag for seperate incidents involving Dries Vanthoor and Mathieu Jaminet.

Frijns was 0.129 seconds quicker than defending race winner Edoardo Mortara in the No. 1 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, with Macau debutant Christopher Haase third, also in an Audi.

Augusto Farfus and Earl Bamber completed the top-five for BMW Team Schnitzer and Manthey Racing, respectively.

Apart from multiple stoppages at the Melco Hairpin, Vanthoor and Jaminet’s brushes with the wall were the only incidents.

It brought out a red flag with five minutes remaining, although both drivers brought their cars back to the pits under power with minimal damage. Vanthoor’s car, however, was missing its rear wing.

Free Practice 2 is set for Friday at 12:30 p.m. local time, followed by qualifying later in the afternoon.

RESULTS: Free Practice 1

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John