Gounon Leads Cairoli in Jeddah Practice

Jules Gounon set the fastest time in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup Free Practice session at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

A series of quick laps for Gounon around the halfway point of the two-hour session culminated in a 1:59.804 set aboard the No. 2 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

The Mercedes-AMG factory driver’s effort was just 0.007 seconds faster than the Matteo Cairoli-driven No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

Ahead of what it set to be Iron Lynx’s final major race outing with Lamborghini before it switches to Mercedes-AMG in 2025, Cairoli prevented a 1-2 for the Stuttgart brand by dropping early pacesetter Maro Engel to third.

Engel, piloting the No. 48 Winward Racing machine, was the final driver to dip below the two-minute mark by setting a 1:59.926.

Paul Evrard picked up fourth in the No. 25 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, leading Gold Cup in the process.

Loek Hartog topped the Bronze Cup and rounded out the overall top five after a series of late-session flyers behind the wheel of the No. 97 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The Dutchman outpaced fellow Porsche driver Laurin Heinrich by a mere 0.006 seconds, ahead of the No. 9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG driven by Thomas Drouet.

A lap of 2:00.232 in the closing seconds allowed Franck Perera to jump into the overall top ten aboard the No. 163 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini, with Alessandro Pier Guidi and Lorenzo Patrese ninth and tenth for AF Corse and Tresor Attempto Racing, respectively.

The fastest Silver Cup entry was the No. 26 Sainteloc Racing Audi, which ended the session 19th overall.

The two-hour session was completed without any significant accidents or stoppages.

However, the field for the Endurance Cup finale in Jeddah has been reduced as a result of the withdrawal of the No. 36 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo after David Pun crashed in Thursday’s Bronze test session.

Track action in Jeddah continues with Pre-Qualifying at 8:15 p.m. local time (12:15 p.m. EDT).