Robin Knutsson put Boutsen VDS on top during a rain-soaked Free Practice 2 (FP2) at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as difficult conditions restricted opportunities for improvement throughout the final practice session of the 2026 GT World Challenge (GTWC) Europe Sprint Cup season.
The Swedish driver produced a 1:54.557 early in the 80-minute session aboard the #10 Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO he shares with Gilles Magnus. As the rain intensified, Knutsson’s benchmark became increasingly difficult to challenge and ultimately gave the Gold Cup entry a 0.448s advantage over Marvin Dienst’s #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG. Thierry Vermeulen led the Pro Cup runners in third for Emil Frey Racing, while Lucas Auer and Sven Müller completed the overall top five.
Knutsson establishes early benchmark before conditions worsen
FP2 began on an already wet Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, making early track position particularly important as teams attempted to gather useful information before qualifying. Knutsson took advantage of the best conditions of the session and set his 1:54.557 before the rainfall increased, leaving the rest of the field chasing a benchmark that became progressively less attainable.
The result returned Boutsen VDS to the top of an FP2 classification after the team had also led the second practice session at Zandvoort. On that occasion, Morris Schuring had led Ricardo Feller in a Porsche one-two, while Barcelona produced another strong showing for the German manufacturer despite the drastically different conditions.
Knutsson and Magnus also comfortably led the Gold Cup order. The #10 Porsche finished 16 positions ahead of its nearest class rival, with James Kell and Arthur Rougier putting the #111 CSA Racing McLaren 17th overall. Alex Aka and Dylan Pereira followed two places later for Tresor Attempto Racing, while AF Corse’s #51 Ferrari ended the session 21st.
Dienst puts Bronze Cup Mercedes-AMG second overall
Dienst emerged as Knutsson’s closest challenger and led the Bronze Cup runners with a 1:55.005. The Winward Racing driver finished 0.448s away from the outright pace, although the steadily worsening weather influenced the size of the final gaps as later improvements became increasingly unlikely.
His performance represented another strong practice result for the #87 Mercedes-AMG he shares with Rinat Salikhov. The pairing entered Barcelona trying to keep its Bronze Cup championship hopes alive after Peter Dempsey and Eddie Cheever took control of the standings during the previous Zandvoort weekend.
Dennis Marschall and Constantin Dressler placed the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari second among the Bronze Cup entries and sixth overall with a 1:55.476. Fabian Schiller and Gabriel Rindone followed in ninth overall for GetSpeed Team Dubai, while championship leaders Dempsey and Cheever placed 13th with the Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche.
The strong performances from the class runners meant two Bronze Cup entries featured inside the overall top six despite the challenging conditions.
Vermeulen leads Pro Cup runners
Vermeulen recorded the quickest Pro Cup time for Emil Frey Racing, taking the #69 Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO to third overall with a 1:55.165. The Dutchman finished 0.608s behind Knutsson and 0.160s away from Dienst as Emil Frey continued to feature near the front during the Barcelona weekend.
Auer followed in fourth for Winward Racing after setting a 1:55.336, while Müller placed the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche fifth. Those performances gave Boutsen VDS two cars inside the top five and put Winward Racing second and fourth overall.
FP1 pacesetters Bastian Buus and Ricardo Feller could not repeat their outright-leading performance, although the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche still finished seventh with a 1:55.486. After leaving Zandvoort at the head of the Sprint Cup standings, the pairing therefore ended Friday with top-seven results in both practice sessions ahead of the championship-deciding races.
Bergström leads Silver Cup on 2026 return
Gustav Bergström produced the quickest Silver Cup lap for Lionspeed GP during his first GTWC Europe appearance of the 2026 season. Sharing the #89 Porsche with Nicolas Baert, Bergström recorded a 1:55.569 to finish eighth overall and only 1.012s away from Knutsson’s leading time.
Mikkel Pedersen and Aliaksandr Malykhin provided the nearest Silver Cup challenge for Pure Rxcing, although their 1:55.849 left the #9 Porsche 15th overall. Tresor Attempto Racing followed in third within the class as Ariel Levi and Andrea Frassineti placed 25th.
Meanwhile, Silver Cup champions Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro ended the session 34th overall for Team WRT. Having already wrapped up the Sprint Cup title at Zandvoort, the BMW pairing entered Barcelona without the championship pressure facing several crews in the other categories.
Championship contenders spread throughout wet-weather order
Although FP2 conditions limited the significance of the outright classification, the championship contenders nevertheless ended the session across very different positions. Buus and Feller led the group in seventh as the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche maintained its place near the sharp end despite the increasing rain.
Daniel Juncadella and Chris Lulham followed among the main title challengers in 12th for Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing. Their 1:55.651 left them 1.094s behind Knutsson, while Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer placed the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 18th overall.
Defending Sprint Cup champions Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde experienced a more difficult afternoon. The #32 Team WRT BMW finished 31st with a 1:57.049, placing it 2.492s away from the session benchmark. However, the changing conditions meant the times offered little indication of the relative pace the title contenders could carry into qualifying.
Rain intensifies without stopping running
The rainfall continued to strengthen throughout the second half of FP2 and left the circuit drenched by the chequered flag. Nevertheless, drivers continued circulating as teams gathered wet-weather information, and Race Control completed the full session without requiring a red flag.
A total of 42 cars recorded classified times. The #77 KPX Motorsport BMW completed two laps, but its 2:44.563 left it outside the classified order, while the #6 GetSpeed Team Bartone Bros Mercedes-AMG did not record a time.
As a result, Knutsson ended the final practice session of the Sprint Cup season at the head of the field and gave Boutsen VDS another Friday benchmark. However, with the weather determining much of the FP2 order, teams will face a different challenge when qualifying decides the grid for the opening Barcelona race.
The full Barcelona FP2 classification is available through the official GT World Challenge Europe website.
