CSA McLaren Tops Prologue at Paul Ricard
CSA McLaren 720S GT3 Evo tops two-day pre-season test at Circuit Paul Ricard...
Photo: JEP/SRO
GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS is on course for a competitive campaign following the conclusion of this week’s Prologue at Circuit Paul Ricard.
The traditional pre-season test saw 57 cars representing ten GT3 manufacturers undertake two days of testing in mixed weather conditions.
Monday began with the rare sight of rain at Circuit Paul Ricard, ensuring the wet compound Pirelli tire was put to good use, before drier conditions prevailed on Tuesday.
The weather did not prevent teams from undertaking significant running, with Lamborghini squad Barwell Motorsport completing a total of 281 laps across the two days.
The No. 111 CSA Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo topped the times, taking advantage of a dry track to post a 1:53.602 on Tuesday afternoon.
Grasser Racing (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2), VSR (Lamborghini) and GetSpeed (Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo) also produced session-topping efforts during the event.
The Prologue marked the series debut for the BMW M4 GT3 EVO and the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, the latter of which will contest this season’s Endurance Cup with Steller Motorsport.
The British squad was one of three new names at the test, with Nordique Racing (Mercedes-AMG) and Verstappen dot com Racing (Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo) also joining the series for the first time.
With the Prologue complete attention now shifts to the first competitive encounter of the year, which will see the paddock reconvene at Circuit Paul Ricard on April 11-13.
The French venue will stage a six-hour Endurance Cup race that runs from 6 p.m. local time on Saturday until midnight, reprising the popular format used between 2015 and 2023.
