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Intercontinental GT Challenge

Jaminet Sets Night Practice Pace in GPX Porsche

Mathieu Jaminet posts fastest lap of 24H Spa night practice in GPX Porsche…

Photo: Dirk Bogaerts/SRO

Mathieu Jaminet set the fastest lap of Thursday’s night practice session for the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa aboard the GPX Martini Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Jaminet, who is teamed up with Earl Bamber and Matt Campbell, topped the 90-minute session ending after midnight with a time of 2:19.569 set during the early stages.

The Frenchman led the way from Nico Mueller who finished 0.238 seconds back in the second-placed No. 37 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo from Audi Sport Team WRT.

GPX Racing is bidding for its second consecutive Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS victory this weekend after it won the Paul Ricard 1000km in May.

The Dubai-based team, which is supported by French outfit ART Grand Prix, won the 24 Hours of Spa with Porsche in 2019.

Jules Gounon set the third-quickest time in night practice behind the wheel of the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo that went fastest in qualifying earlier in the day.

The AMG driver narrowly beat Antonio Fuoco, who made a series of improvements in the No. 71 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 with around half an hour to go.

Callum Ilott initially put the No. 71 Ferrari seventh after 45 minutes of practice running, before 6 Hours of Spa GTE-Am winner Fuoco swapped in before shaving off a couple of tenths to move ahead of the No. 18 KCMG Porsche.

The Italian then went even better, surpassing the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evos from Emil Frey Racing and Orange1 FFF Racing Team with his fastest 2:20.030 attempt.

Jack Aitken ended up fifth in the times for Emil Frey’s No. 114 crew, while Marco Mapelli was sixth for FFF.

Edoardo Liberati ran seventh in the best-ranked KCMG Porsche, ahead of Come Ledogar in the sister Iron Lynx Ferrari and Dinamic Motorsport Porsche driver Klaus Bachler.

A late 2:20.459 flyer from Alessio Rovera set the Pro-Am No. 52 Ferrari from AF Corse in tenth position overall.

The next three places were occupied by Pro entries from KCMG, Audi Sport Team WRT and Mercedes-AMG Team HRT.

Marvin Dienst hit form right at the end of the session to take 14th outright and the Silver Cup category lead for Mercedes-AMG outfit Toksport WRT.

The German driver stopped the clock at 2:20.494 to go four-tenths clear of the AMG run by Winward Racing, while Rinaldi Racing’s Ferrari was third in class.

Nico Menzel finished first in Am Cup for Huber Motorsport with a time of 2:20.949 that fittingly put the No. 23 Porsche 23rd in the classification.

Night practice marked the end of a busy day of track action at Spa which also included Free Practice, Pre-Qualifying and qualifying to combine for five hours of running.

The only track activity remaining before the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa on Saturday and Sunday is the 30-minute warm-up and Super Pole qualifying on Friday evening.

RESULTS: Night Practice

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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