Engel Quickest on Friday at Paul Ricard

Photo: Black Falcon

Maro Engel set the fastest lap time in Pre-Qualifying for the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup race at Circuit Paul Ricard, going overall quickest in Friday’s running.

The Mercedes-AMG factory driver posted a best time of 1:54.875 late in the session on Friday afternoon to take the No. 4 Black Falcon-run Mercedes-AMG GT3 to the top of the timesheets.

His time was almost 0.5 seconds clear of the morning’s pace, set by Daiko Lazarus Racing’s Fabrizio Crestani.

R-Motorsport was the second-quickest team in the afternoon with its Silverstone-winning Aston Martin Vantage GT3, while Ram Racing completed the top three positions.

The Ram Racing Mercedes also secured the top spot in the Pro-Am class, while Emil Frey Jaguar Racing and AKKA ASP led the way in the Silver and Am Cups, respectively.

Qualifying will take place at 9:40 a.m. local time on Saturday while the race will kick off at 5:45 p.m. Both will be streamed live on the series’ website and GT World YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Pre-Qualifying

Jake Kilshaw

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