Vanthoor Fastest in FP1 Before Session-Ending Crash

Laurens Vanthoor topped an opening practice session for the FIA GT World Cup that was cut short by a heavy crash for the Porsche driver in the closing minutes.

Piloting the No. 992 Porsche 911 GT3 R for Absolute Racing, Vanthoor had been the clear pacesetter during the first on-track running on the streets of Macau, having been the only driver in the 16-car field to break through the 2:17 barrier.

However, as the Belgian attempted to find even more time, he lost the rear coming through the fast right-hander of Mandarin Bend and hit the barriers rear-first with considerable force, showering debris all over the track.

Vanthoor was able to exit the cockpit unaided, but the incident brought the 35-minute session to a premature end with three-and-a-half minutes on the clock.

Vanthoor’s best lap of 2:16.451 aboard the No. 992 Porsche was enough to put him 0.755 seconds clear of Yifei Ye in the No. 83 Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.

Raffaele Marciello was third-fastest aboard his ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, a further tenth of a second back.

Adderly Fong had moved to the top of the timesheets in his Uno Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II with around 17 minutes to go, but was ultimately relegated to fourth as the final driver to finish the session within a second of Vanthoor’s benchmark.

Sheldon van der Linde made it two BMWs in the top five for Team WRT ahead of Antonio Fuoco in the AF Corse Ferrari, the second of the Absolute Porsches, the No. 911 car driven by Alessio Picariello, and Christopher Haase’s No. 45 Audi Sport Asia entry.

Completing the top ten were two more Porsches, with Laurin Heinrich ninth in the best of the Schumacher CLRT entries ahead of FIA GT World Cup debutant Dorian Boccolacci in the Phantom Global Porsche.

Practice for the FIA GT World Cup continues with a second session later on Thursday at 3:05 p.m. local time (2:05 a.m. ET).

Results: Free Practice 1