Winward Mercedes Leads Brands Hatch Pre-Qualifying

Mercedes-AMG held its position atop the timesheets at the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup opener at Brands Hatch as Lucas Auer went quickest for Winward Racing in Pre-Qualifying.

The Austrian driver reeled off a best lap of 1:23.357 aboard the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, 0.161 seconds quicker than the No. 159 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo piloted by Benjamin Goethe.

Although he went quickest during the second 60-minute session, Auer’s time fell behind the 1:22.956 that Jules Gounon set to top Free Practice on Saturday morning.

Gounon, driving the No. 9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG, ended Pre-Qualifying fourth behind Eliseo Donno’s Silver Cup-leading No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.

Mattia Drudi rounded out the top five aboard the No. 7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, followed by Emil Frey Racing’s Ben Green and the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 driven by Charles Weerts.

Weerts was one of a handful of drivers to have an off-track moment during the session, which was completed without any red flags. The Belgian ran through the gravel exiting Paddock Hill Bend, but avoided the barriers.

Christopher Haase similarly escaped a scare in the closing minutes aboard the No. 88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

The German lost control after running through the gravel exiting Dingle Dell Corner and nearly found the barriers at Stirling’s in a similar fashion to Valentino Rossi’s off during Free Practice earlier on Saturday.

Additionally, Alexander Sims ran through the grass at South Bank and returned to the pits aboard the No. 90 Madpanda Motorsport Mercedes-AMG with a reported rear axle issue, although the car later rejoined the session.

The top ten in Pre-Qualifying was completed by Giacomo Altoe, Rossi’s No. 46 Team WRT BMW and the No. 51 Racing Team Turkey Ferrari of Charlie Eastwood, which topped Gold Cup.

Next up at Brands Hatch is qualifying at 4:10 p.m. BST (11:10 a.m. EDT), which will set the grid for both of Sunday’s races.

RESULTS: Pre-Qualifying