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Intercontinental GT Challenge

SMP Ferrari Tops Opening Test Day at Spa

SMP Racing Ferrari leads the first day of two-day 24H Spa test…

Photo: Dirk Bogaerts/SRO

SMP Racing set the pace during the opening day of the Total 24 Hours of Spa pre-event test, going quickest after eight hours of running on Tuesday.

The AF Corse-run Ferrari 488 GT3, driven by Davide Rigon, Miguel Molina and Mikhail Aleshin, set a best time of 2:19.137 during the afternoon session.

The team heads to Spa as the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup points leaders after winning the three-hour Silverstone race in May.

KÜS Team75 Bernhard was fastest in the morning and finished the day second quickest overall with its Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Its best time was 0.120 seconds down on the SMP car. The No. 117 Porsche is driven by Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor. 

BMW Team Schnitzer was third quickest in the combined standings, ahead of Dinamic Motorsport’s Porsche and the California 8 Hours-winning HubAuto Corsa Ferrari in fifth.

Track time was halted on several occasions, with red flags brought out after a number of cars crashed at Raidillon.

These included the Goodsmile Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, which has Adam Christodoulou in its lineup, and the Am class Raton Racing by Target Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo.

The most high-profile car to crash was Grasser Racing Team’s No. 63 Lamborghini, driven at the time by Mirko Bortolotti. 

All three drivers involved in crashes exited the cars on their own but all of the cars picked up heavy damage.

Cars will take to the track again tomorrow for another eight hours of running. Sessions will take place from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1-6 p.m local time (3-6 a.m. and 7 a.m. – 12 p.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Test Session 1
RESULTS: Test Session 2

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

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