WEATHER
With bright sunshine, overcast skies and high temperatures during the first free practice session, the fine weather is however forecast to break tonight.
RUNDOWN
39 cars will take part in this exceptional round of the FIA GT Championship, eleven of which are taking part in the FIA GT category and fourteen in the FIA N-GT class. The remaining cars are competing in Category 2, for cars from National GT championships, and in Category 3, for cars from single-make cups and trophies. With double points awarded for teams and drivers, and up to four drivers able to share each car, many drivers whose usual cars are absent have found seats with other teams. In the GT category, the cars include nine Chrysler Viper GTS-R cars, among which a second Viper for Larbre Competition Chereau, one Team Rafanelli Ferrari 550 Maranello, and the PSI Motorsport Team Porsche 996 Turbo which last competed at Zolder. The N-GT class includes thirteen Porsche 996 GT3-Rs, facing strong competition from the Championship-leader, JMB Competition's Ferrari 360 Modena. This race also sees the return of Seikel Motorsport and Cirtek, both FIA GT regulars in the past, and two newcomers : Belgian team Renstal Trommelke and German team DD Racing.
Many prestigious Belgian drivers have joined the field, such as Eric van de Poele, who is driving for Rafanelli, 4-times 24 Hours winners Thierry Tassin and Jean-Michel Martin and double winner Frédéric Bouvy. Other well-known names include former DTM driver Eric Helary, F3000 race-winner Sebastien Bourdais, sportscar specialist Christophe Tinseau and 19-year old American endurance driver Gunnar Jeannette.
FIRST PRACTICE SESSION
The first free 90-minute practice session for the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa took place early on Thursday afternoon.
Teams were mainly working for the race, scrubbing in brake pads and tyres, as well as working on their race set-up.
The overall fastest time was set by Mike Hezemans in the nr 3 Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper GTS-R, with a lap of 2:24.223 round the impressive 6.9 km track. The nr 7 Larbre Competition Chrysler Viper was second despite an early spin for Marc Duez, four tenths slower than the Carsport car, with the nr 11 Paul Belmondo Racing Viper in third place.
Fabio Babini was fastest in the N-GT class, with his nr 54 Art Engineering Porsche 996 GT3-R setting a lap of 2:31.873. He was closely followed by the nr 77 RWS Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R, driven by Luca Riccitelli, and David Terrien in the nr 62 JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena. The leading Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R was fourth, with Stephane Ortelli setting the time.
The best time from categories two and three was set by the nr 93 Patrick Brisset Lamborghini Diablo, driven by Patrick Brisset, Gérard Larrousse and Frank Kremer, competing in category 3, with the best category two car the Belgian Racing Vertigo Streiff of Ugeux, Kropp and Vancampenhoudt.
There were a number of spins early in the session, mainly for category two and three cars. The track was quite dirty, with oil in certain areas. In general, the drivers complained of being slower than during the test days here in June, and were surprised with their times.
Created and Designed by Joe Favata
