+ Howard and Gunn both top qualifying for first time since 2023
+ Simpson continues where Innovation left off at Silverstone; Mitchell fastest in Q4
+ Results: Oulton Park Qualifying
Andrew Howard rolled back the years to bag Beechdean AMR’s first British GT pole position since 2023 before his co-driver Ross Gunn added a second in short order to cap a memorable Oulton Park qualifying session for the Aston Martin squad.
GT4 championship leader Hadley Simpson subsequently set Q3’s fastest time to secure Race 1 pole for Innovation Racing, while another Ginetta driver – Toro Verde’s Jack Mitchell – starts Bank Holiday Monday’s second hour-long contest from P1.
But qualifying undoubtedly belonged to Beechdean which now has two prime opportunities to end its 11-year wait for a GT3 victory. Indeed, Oulton’s last eight races have been won from pole.
The team achieved both of its pole positions by less than a tenth: Rob Collard lapped 0.058s slower than Howard, and Ben Barnicoat 0.019s shy of Gunn. On that evidence both Barwell’s Lamborghini and Optimum’s McLaren – neither of which, like Beechdean, have Compensation Time to serve in Race 1 – will pose a significant threat on Monday.
GT3: ICE, ICE BABY
Beechdean’s Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying had not hinted at its potential to secure a double pole, so it came as something of a surprise when Howard relieved early pace setter Mark Warren of provisional top spot halfway through Q1.
Previous performances suggested Barwell and Rob Collard would be the combination to beat, but the two-time Oulton winner also had no answer to the Aston Martin’s 1m34.098s and instead finished just over half-a-tenth adrift after bumping Warren down to third. Optimum’s McLaren did, nevertheless, take the Silver-Am spoils.
Another two-time winner Kevin Tse shares row two in 2 Seas’ Mercedes-AMG after lapping 0.2s slower than Howard, while Alex Martin (Barwell) and Simon Orange (Orange/JMH) completed the top six ahead of championship leader Jonathon Beeson (Century) and Mark Smith (Paddock).
Q2 was then all about Gunn and Barnicoat.
Beechdean’s Aston was the first to set a reasonable time before the Optimum McLaren circulated a fraction faster. But Gunn hit back next time around before extending the advantage further on his third effort. Barnicoat was behind on the road but up on the splits on his final run, but ultimately fell an agonising 0.019s shy of setting fastest time for the second event running.
Hugo Cook finished a further 0.3s behind in the Huracan he shares with Collard, and Ben Green made it as many manufacturers in the top four by matching the position of his co-driver Tse. Fifth went to Marcus Clutton (Orange/JMH) who shares row three with Jarrod Waberski – the Silver-Am pole winner and top SRO GT Academy contender for the second time in as many qualifying sessions.
Rodin’s Ferrari and Century’s BMW rounded out the first eight.
GT4: GINETTA AT THE DOUBLE
Flying efforts from both Hadley Simpson and Jack Mitchell helped Ginetta lead the way across both GT4 qualifying sessions, with Innovation’s G56 securing top spot for Race 1 before Toro Verde’s example did likewise for Monday’s finale.
Simpson picked up where he and Thomas Holland left off from the season opener at Silverstone by emerging ahead of a three-car fight for pole in the third session. For much of Q3 it looked like Jack Collins was in control aboard Century Motorsport’s BMW, with ‘Chomp’ running 0.4s clear of anybody early on. However, Jessica Hawkins eroded that gap aboard the MK Racing Aston Martin and briefly went fastest before Collins improved again.
But then came Simpson, who snuck into top spot by 0.043s on his final run despite the lap not featuring a single purple sector.
Collins will start second ahead of Hawkins, making it three different manufacturers inside the top three. Luke Shaw grabbed fourth overall and Pro-Am pole for Toro Verde, with Daniel Lavery taking Grange Racing with FSR’s Vantage to fifth and Josh Stanton completing the top six in Optimum’s McLaren.
Mitchell, meanwhile, seamlessly transitioned from his latest 116-mile ultra marathon in aid of the BRDC Motor Sport Charity to a considerably shorter and much faster lap around Oulton that secured Race 2 pole for Toro Verde.
Taking over from Shaw, he only needed one lap to go a full second quicker than Hadley’s Q3 pole time and almost 0.5s faster than Q4’s next best, Will Orton, who secured Silver spoils and an overall front row grid slot for MK.
Holland left it late to put in his best, climbing to third aboard the Innovation car and just edging out Darren Turner in the Grange/FSR Aston. Tom Bradshaw was fifth fastest in Toro Verde’s Porsche ahead of Ronan Pearson in the GBR Stratton Motorsport Vantage.
British GT and its support series take a break on Sunday before returning for warm up and two races on Bank Holiday Monday. Both are live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and app as well as Sky Sports F1.
