> Result: Pre-Qualifying
Patrick Pilet denied Jayden Ojeda his second fastest time in as many sessions by topping Pre-Qualifying on his final flying lap in Beijing.
The last ‘practice’ run produced times far quicker than seen thus far, as well as a top three separated by less than one tenth.
Craft-Bamboo’s Mercedes-AMG relieved Nico Menzel and GTO Racing of top spot with a little more than 30 minutes remaining and stayed there until the chequered flag. However, despite lowering his best on the final tour, Pilet managed to navigate E-Town fractionally faster.
The Absolute Porsche’s 1m44.315s was just 0.01s under Ojeda’s best and another seven hundredths quicker than Menzel.
Origine’s Bastian Buus made it three 911s in the top four, while Harmony’s Ye Yifei recovered to fifth after the Ferrari spent much of the first 25 minutes in the garage.
Silver-Am pace-setter Akash Nandy was again impressive in sixth overall.
Three of the championship’s top four filled positions seven through nine, with Dorian Boccolacci heading points leader Leo Ye and the Corvette Jefri Ibrahim shares with Ben Green.
JMR’s other Chevrolet completed the top 10 from Silver leaders Yu Kuai and Cheng Congfu.
Qualifying begins at 15:05. Both 15-minute sessions are live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.