The sun shone on the second free practice session for the Prototype Cup Germany at the Red Bull Ring. Riccardo Leone Cirelli (17/ITA) and Mattias Bjerre Jakobsen (18/DEN, both BWT Mücke Motorsport) coped best with the conditions: they were 0.452 seconds faster than Sven Barth (44/Eberbach) and Maxim Dirickx (21/BEL, both Aust Motorsport). Danny Soufi (22/USA) and Pavel Lefterov (27/BUL, both Konrad Motorsport) climbed into the top three at the last minute.
“I think our lap time was good. We have improved our car, but still have some work to do for tomorrow. I really like the circuit; I think it might even be one of my favourite tracks now,” said Cirelli. The Italian, together with his partner Jakobsen, could theoretically still be crowned Junior champion, but that is not something he is concerning himself with right now. “Our deficit of 20 points is a pretty big one. Mattias and I have not had a perfect season, but we are not looking back any more. Instead, we are only looking forward. Then we’ll see what happens in the end.”
Dirickx, who ended FP2 in second place, is also still in the race for the Junior title, while third-placed Soufi and Lefterov have already been crowned Prototype Cup Germany champions for 2025. “The car actually felt good in Free Practice 2, but we were too slow. We are lacking top speed,” was the American’s analysis of his session. Lefterov managed to climb into second place in the final few seconds, but was then knocked down to third place by Dirickx.
Keanu Al-Azhari (17/UAE, Mühlner Motorsport) marked his return to the Prototype Cup Germany with fourth place. He is driving alongside debutant Marcel Kopp (30/UAE, Mühlner Motorsport) and is happy to be back in the LMP3 series. “I am also looking forward to helping Marcel on his debut in this series.” The fact that he has not driven an LMP3 car since the season opener did not appear to cause Al-Azhari any problems. “I drive many different race cars, including GT3 and Formula cars. Yesterday, I was at the GB3 test in Donington, today I am here.” This is Al-Azhari’s first visit to the Red Bull Ring, and he was impressed by what he found. “It is a beautiful circuit.”
Mattis Pluschkell (21/Elmenhorst) and Maksymilian Angelard (18/POL, both BWT Mücke Motorsport) ended the session in fifth place, ahead of Michael Herich (48/Brühl) and Mikkel C. Johnsen (38/DEN, both Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport), and Thomas Ambiel (45/Eppingen, Rinaldi Racing). This year’s Trophy champion is happy to have two new rivals in that classification, in the form of Miro Konopka (63/SVK, ARC Bratislava) and Kopp. “It was pretty close between Miro and me. I was just 0.086 seconds quicker than him. On the whole, I am happy. It went well for me both in the rain and on a dry track.” Konopka was eighth on his Prototype Cup Germany debut, ahead of Zino-Ferret Fahlke (18/Hergiswil, Konrad Motorsport). “I don’t yet know exactly how strong the series is, because I have only driven in two free practice sessions so far. However, it is a nice competition and I can imagine taking part next year, if the previous generation of LMP3 cars are permitted as well as the new models.”
