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Intercontinental GT Challenge

GPX Porsche Quickest on Day One of 24H Spa Test

Defending winner GPX Racing sets pace on first day of official 24H Spa testing…

Photo: Brecht Decanq/SRO

GPX Racing’s No. 12 Porsche 911 GT3 R set the fastest lap on the opening day of testing for the Total 24 Hours of Spa.

The car shared by Matt Campbell, Patrick Pilet and Mathieu Jaminet posted a time of 2:18.337 during Tuesday’s night session which rounded out a total of 11 hours of running.

Rain in the morning made for a wet track when the action got underway at 10 a.m. local time, but conditions improved through the afternoon and heading into the evening.

The Porsche ended up 0.592 seconds clear of the second-placed Boutsen Ginion Racing BMW M6 GT3 which was sporting a new special livery that it will have for the Spa race.

Boutsen Ginion set the pace in session two, which ran from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and fed directly into the four-hour night segment.

Third quickest overall was the Tech 1 Racing Lexus RC F GT3 on a time of 2:19.200 set in the afternoon, closely followed by the 2:19.214 flyer from GPX Racing’s No. 41 Porsche.

The morning pace was delivered by the factory-supported Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo from Attempto Racing, which will be raced by Mattia Drudi, Patric Niederhauser and Frederic Vervisch, as confirmed by Audi Sport on Tuesday morning.

That car set a time of 2:34.779 in the wet, beating AKKA-ASP’s No. 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo by a third of a second.

Incidents on day one included an off-track moment for the RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG which prompted a red flag in the afternoon, while there was another stoppage in the night run for a stopped car at Les Combes.

Testing continues tomorrow with a total of seven hours of running, split between a two-hour morning session starting at 10 a.m. CEST (4 a.m. EST) and an afternoon session from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. (7 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST). 

RESULTS: Session 1 / Session 2 / Session 3

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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