Dries Vanthoor went fastest in the first of two Free Practice sessions for the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup at Brands Hatch, setting the pace for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.
The Silver-rated driver set a lap time of 1:24.357 midway through the session in the No. 5 Audi R8 LMS, which remained unbeaten even when co-driver Marcel Faessler took over.
A lap time 0.405 seconds slower put Jules Szymkowiak second in the Silver Cup-entered No. 85 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3, while Grasser Racing Team completed the top three.
The first half of the session was as usual reserved for Bronze and Silver-rated drivers, but was red-flagged for much of the opening 30 minutes after Michael Broniszewski went off track in his No. 11 Ferrari 488 GT3.
The session got restarted at 10:10, in time for the full 30 minutes open for all drivers.
Free Practice 2 is scheduled for 12:55 p.m. local time, ahead of Qualifying at 4:25 p.m.
RESULTS: Free Practice 1