Marschall Keeps Kessel Ferrari on Top in Valencia Pre-Quali

Dennis Marschall kept the No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 atop the timesheets during GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup Pre-Qualifying in Valencia as the German went quickest across both of Friday’s official on-track sessions.

The German steered the blue-liveried Ferrari, which leads the Bronze Cup standings heading into this weekend’s finale, to a best lap of 1:31.992.

That allowed him to outpace both of AF Corse’s Pro-entered cars, with Alessio Rovera’s No. 51 Ferrari 0.054 seconds behind in second but 0.103 seconds clear of the No. 50 machine in the hands of Arthur Leclerc.

Marschall already led Free Practice earlier on Friday, which was first red flagged and then abandoned due to track repairs.

This also caused the remainder of the day’s sessions to be delayed, with Pre-Qualifying starting 40 minutes later than originally scheduled.

Lucas Auer ended the session fourth aboard the No. 48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, followed by Silver Cup leader Cesar Gazeau in the No. 9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG.

Gazeau outpaced Boutsen VDS’ Pro entry, piloted by driven by Maxime Martin, by 0.041 seconds.

Bastian Buus slotted into seventh on the No. 89 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R ahead of the Gilles Magnus-driven No. 25 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, which went quickest in Gold Cup.

The overall top ten was completed by the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo and No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche.

Qualifying for the opening race of the weekend is scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m. CEST (3 a.m. EST).