British GT Donington Qualifying

British GT Championship decider weekend and after the run of clear hot weather, the Donington Park meeting starts with a wet and breezy qualifying day…

British GT has been a tight season and as always it is coming down to the final round. TF sport are heading into the weekend as the leaders but Barwell Motorsport are only 14.5 pts behind. It’s not only the teams championship that’s close, the drivers title is down to three pairings; Jon minshaw and Phil Keen lead the way with Derek Johnston and Jonny Adam just 11.5 pts behind also in the running with luck on their side is the Team Parker Bentley boys of Rick Parfitt and Seb Morris who are 27 pts further back – with a bit of luck and strong pace these guys could also be in with a chance for the title. As always the weekend will be full of excitement and drama, especially due to some very wet conditions.

Free practice sessions one and two took place in constant rain, practice 1 caught a lot of drivers out early on as many struggled with grip, the Melbourne hairpin, Goddards and Reigate catching out many. The Tolman Ginettas found grip early on proving their pace in both practice sessions. Barbell also looked strong in both sessions especially in FP2 setting the second quickest time and keeping their title chances within grasp. The Team Parker Bentley also was on the pace and setting good times despite a spin coming out of Goddards and nosing it softly into the wall.

For the all crucial qualifying, you could feel the pressure building within the teams and the title contenders. A drying track was a welcome development for the drivers as the AM took to the circuit for their session. Championship leaders TF sports’s Derek Johnston set the pace in the AM session followed by Beechdean’s Andrew Howard who was a mere 0.01 slower. Barwell’s Jon Minshaw rounded out the top three in session 1 to set it up for the Pro session in which the GT3 grid would be decided. The Pro drivers took to the circuit and it was soon apparent that the Beechdean Aston had a problem unfortunately never managing to set a time leaving them at the back of the grid for Sunday’s race.

Jonny Adam for TF Sport however was clearly out for that pole position, not easy considering he was being hounded by the Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse Mclaren in the hands of Rob Bell. It was close session all the way through with the top 6 covered by only 1 second. Below are the qualifying results from both sessions combined for grid positions.

Qualifying Results

1. TF Sport – Aston Martin Vantage GT3 2:56.968/ Derek Johnston/Jonny Adam

2. Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse – Mclaren 650s GT3 2:57.382 / Alastair McCaig/Rob Bell

3. Barwell Motorsport – Lamborghini Hurracan GT3 2:57.458 / Jon Minshaw/Phil Keen

4. Barwell Motorsport – Lamborghini Hurracan GT3 2:57.548 / Liam Griffin/Alexander Sims

5. Team Parker Racing – Bentley Continental GT3 2:57.839 / Rick Parfitt/Seb Morris

6. TF Sport – Aston Martin Vantage GT3 2:57.902 / Mark Farmer/Jon Barnes

7. Tolman Motorsport – Ginetta G55 GT3 2:59.155/.Ian Stinton/Mike Simpson

8. Motorbase Performance – Aston Martin Vantage GT3 2:59.904/Phil dryburgh/Ross Wylie

9. Team Abba with Rollcentre Racing – BMW Z4 GT3 3:01.942/ Richard Neary/Martin Short

10. Tolman Motorsport – Ginetta G55 GT3 3:03.232

11. Beechdean AMR – Aston Martin Vantage GT31:29:377/ Andrew Howard/Rory Butcher

GT4 Grid

1. Beechdean AMR – Aston Martin Vantage GT4 3:13.109/ Jack Bartholomew/Ross Gunn

2.Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse – Mclaren 570S GT4 3:13.256/ Sandy Mitchell/Ciaren Haggerty

3. PMW World Expo/Optimum Motorsport – Ginetta G55 GT4 3:13.650/ Graham Johnson/Mike Robinson

4. Generation AMR Macmillan Racing – Aston Martin Vantage GT4 3:13.962/ Matthew Graham/Jack Mitchell

5. Lanan Racing – Ginetta G55 GT4 3:14.59 / Alex Reed/Joey Foster

6. Fox Motorsport – Ginetta G55 GT4 3:14.639/ Sam Webster/Jamie Stanley

7. GPRM – Toyota GT86 3:15.133/ James Fletcher/Stefan Hodgets

8. RCIB Insurance Racing – Ginetta G55 GT4 3:15.134/ William Phillips/Jordan Stilip

9. Ebor GT Motorsport – Maserati GT MC GT4 3:15.164/ Marcus Hoggarth/Abbie Eaton

10. Stratton Motorsport – Lotus Evora GT4 3:15.166

11. Century Motorsport – Ginetta G55 GT4 3:15.919/ Anna Welenska/Nathan Freke

12. Century Motorsport- Ginetta G55 GT4 3:16.183/ Sean Byrne/Aleksander Schjerpen

13. JW Bird Motorsport – Aston Martin Vantage GT4 3:17.391/ Kieran Griffin/Jake Giddings

14. Beechdean AMR – Aston Martin Vantage GT4 3:17.791/ Paul Hollywood/Jamie Chadwick

15. Team Parker Racing – Porsche Cayman Clubsport GT4 3:17.977/Nick Jones/Scott Malvern

16. Stratton Motorsport – Lotus Evora GT4 3:18.274/ Richard Taffinder/Martin Plowman

17. Generation AMR Racing – Aston Martin Vantage GT4 3:19.638/ James Holder/ Matthew George

18. RCIB Insurance Racing – Ginetta G55 GT4 1:31.631/ Aaron Mason/Rob Barrable

All images by Mike Widdowson.

Many thanks to Donington Park.

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