Renault RS01 Quickest in Mixed-Condition Free Practice

Photo: Marcel Langer

A Renault RS01 topped the time charts in the one-and-only Free Practice session for this weekend’s Nürburgring 24.

The No. 35 GTronix 360 Team mcchip-dkr Renault of Heiko Hammell laid down a 8:26.703 in the final seconds of the wet-turned-dry session, which saw a number of late improvements.

Hammell, who is competing in the SP-X class, outpaced the SP9-GT3 pace-setting No. 12 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Dennis Olsen by more than 1 second.

Among the drivers in the Renault’s lineup this weekend is former IMSA GT Le Mans class champion Kuno Wittmer.

Defending Nürburgring 24 race winner Connor De Phillippi was third quickest in the No. 99 ROWE Racing BMW M6 GT3, followed by Tristan Vautier’s Landgraf Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 in fourth.

Maxime Martin made it five different manufacturers in the top-five, pedaling his No. 007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 to a 8:30.692 lap.

The session, which started in full wet conditions, saw no major accidents, although several cars stopped on track with issues.

Qualifying 1 is set to get underway at 8:30 p.m. local time, which runs until 11:30 p.m.

RESULTS: Free Practice

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