Over 70 cars took to the track as preparation for drivers and teams has well and truly begun with the Qualifying Series for this year looming. The Pre Qualifying process is slated to happen this week where almost 100 cars will be narrowed down to just 45 who will take part in the Qualifying Series itself which is set to take place throughout February. 

Sessions last night spanned across both the Hungaroring and Winton circuits which are the tracks that are both scheduled to set the stage for the Pre Qualification process this week. With so many teams and drivers taking the opportunity to set lap times it gives everyone an early form guide and interesting insight into what to expect late in the week. 

The initial impression is that the field will extremely competitive with the top 30 cars at Hungaroring covered by under 1.5 seconds and less 1 second separating the top 20 at Winton.  

It was no surprise to see some familiar names amongst those leading the way early on with returning Pro Invitational Series drivers from last season like Ric Kuznetsov, Dylan Rudd and Sebastian Flock in the mix.  

Also evident was the intent of some familiar teams like Evolution Racing Team who also had Robert Gibbs and Matthew Bowler factoring at the pointy end of the timesheets. 

The depth of the competition is compelling and other teams are also well represented with Jobe Stewart (Pursuit Sim Racing), Josh Muggleton (Trans Tasman Racing), Thomas Freeman (Fishy Motorsport) and Adam Briggs (Synergy Sim Racing) all setting fast times last night.

Other names to watch out for include the likes of Rehan Liyanage (Phoenix Racing), Shawn McNamara (9INE5IVE SimSport), Andrew Dyson (Simrigs.com DPR) and Zachary Hanlin (Altus Esports) who also set times but may holding their cards close to their chest at this early stage. 

With a number of the most anticipated names registered not in attendance last night we know that the competition will only get tougher as the Qualification process gets under way later this week.  

With entries now closed you can see the full list of nominated drivers here: