Stolz Leads Mercedes 1-2 in Barcelona Pre-Qualifying

Luca Stolz set the pace as Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos came to the fore in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup Pre-Qualifying at Barcelona.

Stolz steered the Al Manar Racing-badged No. 777 GetSpeed Performance car that he shares with Maro Engel and Fabian Schiller to a time of 1:41.075 just before the half-hour mark in the 90-minute session.

Thomas Drouet made a series of improvements at around the same time before settling for second overall in the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG, only 0.029 seconds behind Stolz.

Early pacesetter Raffaele Marciello ended up fourth at the wheel of the No. 88 Akkodis ASP car, with Dennis Olsen slotting the Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R into third.

AF Corse’s No. 71 Ferrari 296 GT3 registered another top-five result after placing fourth in Saturday morning’s Free Practice session.

Sixth place overall went to the Pro-Am leading Car Collection Motorsport Porsche driven by Alex Fontana, while the Bronze Cup leading Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 was eighth in the hands of Ben Green.

Tresor Attempto Racing’s No. 99 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II set the pace in Silver Cup after Lorenzo Patrese briefly led overall in the opening minutes of the session.

The No. 21 Comtoyou Racing Audi from the Gold Cup also shot to first outright but Max Hofer’s lap time was deleted for a track limits breach.

The Audi Sport factory driver nonetheless went on to lead the Gold Cup class in 11th overall with a 1:41.738 effort.

Lap times were generally slower in Pre-Qualifying than Free Practice, where Dries Vanthoor broke the 1m 40s barrier with Team WRT’s No. 32 BMW.

However, the second session went without any major incidents, unlike Free Practice which was broken up by two short red flags.

There were simultaneous spins for the No. 89 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG and the ST Racing Ferrari, although both continued without the need for a full-course interruption.

The No. 89 Mercedes-AMG underwent an engine change before Saturday’s track action after a failure during the Bronze driver test on Friday.

The first of three 15-minute qualifying sessions is scheduled for 9:45 a.m. CEST (3:45 a.m. EDT) on Sunday.

RESULTS: Pre-Qualifying