Brown and Simonsen set the qualifying pace at Spa-Francorchamps
Seventeen-year-old Daniel Brown confounded his elders yet again at Spa-Francorchamps today, securing pole position for round three of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship with a virtuoso qualifying performance on the Belgian Grand Prix circuit.
Brown and his Momo-backed Mosler were the only combination to crack the 2m 30s barrier in the first qualifying session, the Essex youngster popping in a lightning lap at the end of the session to deny by half a second Andrew Smith's Ginetta G50Z the pole on its British GT debut.
"I have raced at Spa before," said Dan, "but that was in a single-seater... The Mosler is a bit different around here. I'm very pleased with pole, and I just hope that I can do tomorrow in the race what I did at Oulton Park, and lead all the way."
Brown's 1m 29.566s mark was shattered in second qualifying by Danish driver Allan Simonsen, who claimed the pole for Sunday's fourth round of the championship with an impressive 2m 26.396s lap at the wheel of the Rosso Verde Ferrari 430. His driving partner Hector Lester was left mystified: "I don't know how he did that. He knows his way around Spa all right, but to wring that sort of performance from the Ferrari shows his class."
The GT4 class honours were shared in the two sessions by the Ginettas of Jody Firth and Hunter Abbott.
Missing from the action today was the RPM Motorsport Ford GT, which suffered an accident yesterday in testing. Though only lightly damaged, a lack of spare parts has ruled out the Ford from further participation at Spa.
Qualifying times round 3
Dry, overcast
1 GT3 Mosler MT900, Daniel Brown 2m 29.566s
2 INV Ginetta G50Z, Andrew Smith 2m 30.096s
3 GT3 Ascari KZR1, David Jones 2m 30.232s
4 GT3 Mosler MT900, Gregor Fisken 2m 30.536s
5 GT3 Aston Martin DBRS9, Andrew Howard 2m 30.758s
6 GT3 Dodge Viper, Craig Wilkins 2m 31.350s
7 GT3 Ferrari 430, Paul Warren 2m 31.482s
8 GT3 Ferrari 430, Phil Burton 2m 33.720s
9 GT3 Ferrari 430, Hector Lester 2m 33.728s
10 GT3 Ferrari 430, Duncan Cameron 2m 34.476s
11 GT3 Aston Martin DBRS9, Tom Alexander 2m 34.942s
12 GT4 Ginetta G50, Jody Firth 2m 42.918s
13 GT4 Ginetta G50, Gary Simms 2m 43.022s
14 GT4 Ginetta G50, Ian Stinton 2m 44.648s
Qualifying times round 4
Dry, overcast
1 GT3 Ferrari 430, Allan Simonsen 2m 26.396s
2 GT3 Dodge Viper, Aaron Scott 2m 28.004s
3 GT3 Mosler MT900, Martin Short 2m 28.336s
4 INV Ginetta G50Z, Oliver Bryant 2m 28.388s
5 GT3 Mosler MT900, Stuart Hall 2m 28.826s
6 GT3 Ferrari 430, Adam Wilcox 2m 29.138s
7 GT3 Aston Martin DBRS9, Jamie Smyth 2m 29.858s
8 GT3 Ascari KZR1, Godfrey Jones 2m 30.116s
9 GT3 Aston Martin DBRS9, Adrian Willmott 2m 30.182s
