ROWE Porsches 1-3 in Pre-Qualifying

Photo: Patrick Hecq/SRO

ROWE Racing’s pair of Porsche 911 GT3 Rs showed the most pace during Pre-Qualifying for the Blancpain GT Series finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Saturday afternoon, placing first and third.

The team’s No. 98 car, shared by Sven Mueller, Romain Dumas and Mathieu Jaminet, went quickest with the latter’s best time of 1:44.839, breaking the 1:45 barrier for the first time this weekend.

Dirk Werner, Dennis Olsen and Matt Campbell were 0.317 seconds back in third with their No. 99 car, behind the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT car that was quickest in Free Practice.

Alex Riberas set the pace in the morning’s opening session in his No. 2 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo.

Fourth and fifth places in Pre-Qualifying were occupied by each of Black Falcon and AKKA ASP’s lead Mercedes-AMG GT3s.

The lead in Silver Cup was taken by the No. 555 Orange 1 FFF Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, placing sixth overall and one position ahead of its sister Pro Cup No. 563 entry.

AF Corse’s No. 52 Ferrari 488 GT3 and Barwell Motorsport’s No. 77 Lamborghini led the way in Pro-Am and Am, respectively, although Adrian Amstutz sustained damage that ended the Barwell car’s running early.

A brief red flag early in the 90-minute session was the only stoppage. One car, the Ram Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 that led the Pro-Am class in Free Practice, didn’t take part.

Qualifying will get underway at 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. EDT) on Sunday.

RESULTS: Pre-Qualifying

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.