Marciello Fastest in Delayed Valencia Practice

Raffaele Marciello set the pace in a delayed Free Practice session for the fourth Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup round at Valencia.

The Swiss driver steered the No. 88 Akkodis ASP Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to a best lap of 1:31.659, nearly a full second faster than the No. 40 Tresor Orange 1 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II driven by Mattia Drudi.

Marciello was the only driver to dive below the 1:32 mark in a session that started 45 minutes later than originally planned after heavy rainfall on Friday morning delayed the start of track action.

Times began to tumble as track conditions improved, with Marciello eventually leading with a time that was 13 seconds faster compared to the beginning of the session.

Konsta Lappalainen completed the top three aboard the No. 14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, ahead of the No. 111 JP Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo in the hands of Dean MacDonald.

Lorenzo Patrese rounded out the top five behind the wheel of the No. 99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi, leading Henrique Chaves’ No. 188 McLaren.

Christopher Haase and Christopher Zoechling slotted into seventh and eighth, just clear of the No. 79 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes driven by Sebastian Baud.

Both HRT entries featured in the top ten throughout the session, with Jordan Love an early pacesetter aboard the No. 77 sister car before ending the session in 17th.

The top ten was completed by the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of Charles Weerts.

Pre-Qualifying at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo is scheduled for 4:35 p.m. CEST (10:35 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Practice