Vanthoor Puts Team75 Bernhard on Top in Free Practice

Photo: Porsche

Laurens Vanthoor set the quickest time in Thursday’s opening session for the Total 24 Hours of Spa, going to the top of the timesheets late in Free Practice.

The Belgian, driving the KÜS Team75 Bernhard Porsche 911 GT3 R, set a best time of 2:20.098 towards the end of the 80-minute session.

It marked the first time the track has been open all all 72 cars, following Tuesday afternoon’s Bronze Test for Bronze and rookie Silver drivers.

Vanthoor shares the Team75 Bernhard car with an unchanged lineup since last year of Earl Bamber and team owner Timo Bernhard.

Maxime Martin put R-Motorsport second in the session with his No. 62 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, ahead of the lead Garage 59 Aston Martin.

Dinamic Motorsport had led the session earlier on, but finished fourth with its Porsche, ahead of Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon’s No. 4 car in fifth.

The session was red-flagged for a short while after Salih Yoluc went off at Raidillon. His Oman Racing with TF Sport Aston Martin placed sixth and in the lead of the Pro-Am Cup after a flying lap from Charlie Eastwood.

AKKA ASP led the Silver Cup with its No. 90 Mercedes in tenth, while Raton Racing by Target was on top in the Am Cup.

Pre-Qualifying gets underway at 4:45 p.m. local time (10:45 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Free Practice

Jake Kilshaw

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