Herberth Motorsport Porsche leads the way as bronze test kicks off Circuit Paul Ricard weekend

Herberth Motorsport topped the bronze test at Circuit Paul Ricard as track action got underway ahead of this weekend's Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS race.

Rain began to fall shortly before the session kicked off at 09:00 CEST and intensified over the course of the hour-long run. Ralf Bohn was at the wheel of the #911 Porsche to post a 1m58.167s lap during the early stages and, with grip levels rapidly decreasing, could not be challenged thereafter. 

The #20 SPS Mercedes-AMG was second fastest, followed by the similar #5 Haupt Racing entry. McLaren and Audi were also represented among the overall top-five courtesy of Garage 59 and Team WRT respectively.  

A total of 22 cars took part in the bronze test, though the #93 Sky Tempesta Mercedes-AMG did not turn a competitive lap. In terms of whether the session is likely to be an outlier, with sunny skies and high temperatures forecast for the remainder of the event. 

It kicked off a busy day at Circuit Paul Ricard. The full field will be on-track at 14:20 for free practice, while the second Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series race of the season takes place at 17:15. Cars return to the circuit at 19:20 for pre-qualifying. 

On Saturday qualifying will run at 11:30, while the main event kicks off at 18:00. Today's Fanatec Esports action and both of Saturday's sessions will air live across a variety of online platforms, including the GT World YouTube channel, with commentary in English, French, Italian and German.