Perera Fastest in Pre-Qualifying with Late Flier

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

A fast lap time of 1:57.614 with five minutes to go in Pre-Qualifying put Frank Perera to the top of the timesheets on Friday afternoon, ahead of the Paul Ricard 1000km.

Lap times continued to fall throughout the 90-minute session, almost one second quicker than the pace shown in Pre-Qualifying earlier on in the day.

Perera’s No. 84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 is carrying a new livery this weekend to promote the Battlefield 1 video game, with the team departing from the usual grey and red color scheme.

The Frenchman ended the session 0.170 seconds ahead of Jonny Adam, who had held the top spot for most of the session for Oman Racing Team with TF Sport.

Bentley Team M-Sport’s pair of cars finished third and fifth, while the No. 85 HTP Mercedes was fourth.

The session was red-flagged for a few minutes early on, following a puncture for Hugo de Sadeleer in the No. 3 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS, but it ran trouble-free for the remainder.

Having topped both the Bronze Test and Free Practice, the Ferrari 488 GT3s weren’t as successful in Pre-Qualifying, with Rinaldi Racing’s No. 333 car the fastest Prancing Horse in seventh.

Championship leader Grasser Racing Team also appears to be struggling for pace this weekend with its Lamborghini Huracan GT3s, the highest of which finished 16th.

Pre-Qualifying draws Friday’s track action to a close, with Qualifying set for 10 a.m. local time Saturday morning ahead of the six-hour race at 6 p.m.

RESULTS: Pre-Qualifying

Jake Kilshaw

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