Goetz Quickest for Boutsen VDS in Spa Free Practice

Photo: JEP/SRO

Maxi Goetz led the way in Free Practice for this weekend’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, putting the No. 9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo on top of the time sheets in a mixed-condition session.

Goetz’s 2:17.134 lap time in the retro-liveried entry came in the early stages of the 90-minute session, which was in largely dry conditions.

The track was declared wet from the start of the session, although drivers managed to get dry running in for the opening hour until a shower dampened action in the final 30 minutes.

The majority of competitors elected to stay in the pits when the rain arrived.

The Gold Cup class No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Dean MacDonald was second quickest, 0.288 seconds slower than Goetz’s benchmark time.

Davide Rigon was third quickest in the No. 12 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, which is competing in the Bronze Cup, while the No. 99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II and No. 7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Marco Sorensen completed the overall top-five.

Alexander Sims made it six different GT3 manufacturers in the top-six, thanks to his lap in the No. 2 Johor Motorsports JMR Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

The top-ten was completed by the No. 66 Attempto Audi, No. 991 Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 EVO, No. 17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG and No. 92 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Despite the inclement weather, there were no red flags during the session.

Pre-Qualifying is scheduled to get underway at 5:40 p.m. CEST (11:40 a.m. EST) with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Free Practice

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John