Team WRT’s #32 BMW carried its GTWC Europe end-of-season form straight into the new Sprint Cup campaign, going quickest in Free Practice 1 (FP1)at Brands Hatch and signalling that the reigning champions have lost none of their edge over the winter.
Sharing the cockpit with Charles Weerts, Kelvin van der Linde clocked a benchmark 1m23.260s to lead the timesheets, and by the end of the hour the title-winning pairing had pulled 0.274s clear of their nearest challenger. That challenger was Christopher Haase, who opened his Sprint account in promising fashion aboard the #84 Eastalent Racing Audi.
Just behind, Bastian Buus slotted the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche into third, missing out on second by a mere 0.009s and ending 0.283s adrift of the benchmark. Completing a clean sweep for the German marques at the sharp end, Maro Engel — a four-time winner at the Kent circuit — placed the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG fourth.
Rossi and Juncadella among the top eight
Further down the order, Dani Juncadella took fifth in the #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing entry, while Valentino Rossi followed him home in the sister #46 Team WRT BMW. Rounding out the next two positions, Kobe Pauwels guided the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin into seventh ahead of Dorian Boccolacci in the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche.
Aka and Nesov top the class standings
In the Gold Cup, Alex Aka emerged as the fastest of the bunch, guiding the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi to 10th outright with a 1m23.831s. Flying the flag for Silver Cup honours, meanwhile, Aleksei Nesov brought the #8 Pure Rxcing Porsche home 13th overall on a 1m24.053s.
Gravel trip brings out the Red Flag
Running was halted a quarter of the way into the hour when Andrea Frassineti beached the #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi in the gravel. Although the car avoided serious damage, recovery crews still had to bring it back to pit lane before the session could resume.
Of the 34 entries on the grid, only one stayed in the garage, with an electrical gremlin sidelining the #54 Dinamic GT Porsche. As for the rest of the field, the competitive nature of the session was clear from the timesheets, where a single second covered the first 21 cars.
