Jazeman Jaafar in line for Spa 24 Hours drive with HTP Mercedes
Formula Renault 3.5 driver Jazeman Jaafar is on course to contest the Spa 24 Hours in one of 2013 winner HTP Motorsport's Mercedes
The Malaysian driver tested a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG for the team at the official test day for the Blancpain Endurance Series blue-riband on Wednesday and ended up third fastest in the times on his first acquaintance with the GT car.
Jaafar would race the third Mercedes HTP is planning to field at Spa on July 26/27, most likely sharing with two of last year's winning drivers, Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Gotz.
Team boss Norbert Bruckner told AUTOSPORT: "We were really surprised at what he did: we expected him to be good, but not that good.
"He only got new tyres at the end, so he had to learn about where he had the extra grip, so there's no doubt that he could have gone quicker."
Bruckner stressed that plans to run the additional car alongside its regular pair of BES entries had yet to be set in stone.
"We are still working on it and if we do it, it will be with a quality line-up," he explained.
"It's all been a bit last minute, but if it happens, it is looking like it will be the two Maxes and Jazeman."
Sebastian Asch, who races in ADAC GT Masters with the Farnbacher Porsche, also drove the third HTP Mercedes at the test day and is in the frame for a drive.
DTM legend Bernd Schneider, who won the 24 Hours last year with Buhk and Gotz, will drive alongside Harold Primat and Nico Verdonck in the #84 HTP entry.
The Black Falcon Mercedes team, which won last year's Nurburgring 24 Hours, has also entered an additional car in the Pro class for Spa alongside its regular BES entry for Hubert Haupt, Andreas Simonsen and Abdulaziz Al Faisal.
Potential drivers include Briton Adam Christodoulou, who has contested 24-hour races at the Nurburgring, Spa and Dubai with the team over the past two years.
The VonRyan Racing McLaren team is working on putting together an all-pro line-up for the race, which could be confirmed in the next few days.
The British team ran ART BES regular Gregoire Demoustier, who raced for VonRyan in the British GT Championship last year, at Wednesday's official Spa test to help prepare the Frenchman for the race.
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