GT3 Europe

Hexis AMR on top in Zolder second practice

© Planetlemans – Brecht Decancq

The second practice session for the FIA GT3 European Championship at Zolder had everything the drivers could wish for, nice temperatures and the sun shining brightly. Thanks to the perfect weather conditions and some top drivers the top eight after 60 minutes was within a second of each other.

Just after one o’clock the green light went on and in most pit boxes the engines were immediately restarted. And from the word go the Audi R8 LMS’ of Sainteloc –Phoenix Racing and Team Rosberg were on the pace, before Fred Makowiecki went out in the #1 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DBRS9.

Halfway through the second practice session the Aston Martin DBRS9 was still the fastest car on the track, its best lap time of 1:31.792 just over eight tenths of a second quicker than the #77 Need for Speed by Schubert Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 and the #4 Team Rosberg Audi R8 LMS. The top seven was within a second.

With twenty minutes left in the session the yellow flag was shown at turn 11 when the Fischer Racing Ford GT of Mikko Eskelinen came to a halt and was pushed to a safe place by the marshals.

The top three remained unchanged for most of the session until it was Maxime Martin in the #99 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT who moved into second place with just under thirteen minutes left. Martin followed up with another fast lap which put him just .089 seconds behind the Aston Martin. In the final minutes a couple of cars spun – all with no harm done.

At the end of the hour it was the Hexis AMR #1 that was still fastest. Marc VDS Racing Team finished the session in second place, while the Need for Speed by Schubert Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 finished in third.