The American goes fastest in the Prototype Cup Germany for the first time. Two Ligier JS P320 occupy the top two places at the end of the session, followed by three Duqueine D08.
The second free practice session of the opening round of this season’s Prototype Cup Germany at Spa-Francorchamps saw Danny Soufi (20/USA) set the fastest time in a Ligier JS P320 run by the Konrad Motorsport team. The American completed his lap of the 7.004-kilometre circuit in 2:31.796 minutes. Rain dominated the session, resulting in a lack of timed laps at first. Only towards the end of practice was it worth taking a look at the timings list. “It was a crazy session, with real Belgian Ardennes weather,” said Soufi, who shares the cockpit with Torsten Kratz (53/Mönchengladbach). “I felt better in the car than I did in the first session. However, this is my very first time driving here at Spa-Francorchamps. As such, I am learning with every lap.” Soufi was also faster than Markus Pommer (33/Untereisesheim, Gebhardt Motorsport), who topped the timings list with a 2:32.527-minute lap in the FP1.
Second place in FP2 went to fellow Ligier drivers Kluas Abbelen (63/Barweiler) and Felipe Fernández Laser (35/Leipzig, both Frikadelli Racing Team), who were 0.336 seconds slower than Soufi. The best-placed Duqueine D08 was that of Julien Apothéloz (23/CHE) and Riccardo Leone Cirelli (16/ITA, both BWT Mücke Motorsport), who ended the session in third place, a full 3.105 seconds off the top time.
Wolfgang Payr (60/AUT) and Sebastian von Gartzen (31/Butzbach, both Racing Experience) were fourth in their Duqueine, 3.167 seconds slower than Soufi’s benchmark. Rounding out the top five was fellow Duqueine racer Keanu Al Azhari (16/UAE, Mühlner Motorsport).
Still to come on Friday evening is qualifying for Saturday’s race in the Prototype Cup Germany. “We want to finish on the podium in both races. That is our main goal, what we are working for,” said Konrad driver Soufi, looking ahead to the weekend’s action. “We are hoping for an incident-free race weekend and want to score as many points as possible. Let’s see whether it works out that way.”
