+ GT3 championship leaders Collard/Cook share front row with 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG
+ GT4 title contenders spread across the field
+ Brands Hatch Qualifying Results
Chris Lulham’s late flying lap in a red flag interrupted second GT3 session helped himself and co-driver Kevin Tse claim pole position for British GT’s title showdown at Brands Hatch where Optimum’s Josh Stanton and George Gamble also start GT4’s season finale from class top spot.
2 Seas’ #18 Mercedes-AMG cannot win the GT3 title but might have a hand in the outcome by qualifying immediately ahead of three championship contenders. The Lamborghini shared by Barwell’s points’ leaders Rob Collard and Hugo Cook shares row one, while Orange/JMH duo Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton – who set Q2’s fastest individual time – line up alongside Morgan Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat (Optimum) in third and fourth.
Marc Warren’s benchmark Q1 time helped Optimum’s 720S seal Silver-Am spoils in fifth overall.
Stanton, meanwhile, must win to maintain any hope of overturning his 30.5-point GT4 deficit. And he gave himself an excellent chance of at least contending by laying the foundations for class pole. Paddock’s Blake Angliss and Revie Lake made it an all McLaren front row from Pro-Am pace-setters Luke Shaw and Jack Mitchell (Toro Verde) who set fastest time to jump joint championship leaders Jack Collins and Branden Templeton (Century).
GT4’s other three title contenders – Grange/FSR, Innovation and MK – start right behind in fifth, sixth and seventh.
GT3: 2 SEAS STEALS THE SHOW
Qualifying began with Collard setting fastest lap provisionally from title rival Tillbrook before Warren’s consecutive quickest times sent Optimum’s McLaren to the top by two tenths. It capped a strong second half of the season for the outgoing GT4 champion who was also the benchmark Bronze in Snetterton and Donington’s qualifying sessions.
Crucially, however, Tse improved on his final run to move one hundredth shy of Collard. Lulham therefore had a realistic shot at securing a place on the front row whilst the likes of Barnicoat – who earlier paced Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying – started four tenths down.
Optimum’s McLaren was first to hit the front before being shuffled back to second by Clutton who set his time just before Ross Gunn’s accident at Clearways hastened a red flag period. Four minutes – time for two flying laps – remained when Q2 restarted.
Cook couldn’t beat Clutton’s individual best but did enough to briefly give Barwell pole before 2 Seas’ Mercedes-AMG lapped three tenths quicker than anyone else. That suspect effort was quickly scrubbed for gaining an advantage at Turn 6, but Lulham learnt his lesson next time around to take top spot by just under a tenth on the combined classification.
His individual time was two hundredths slower than Clutton whose earlier effort – which pipped Barnicoat by 0.006s – remained unchallenged and ultimately moved Orange/JMH up one spot from where Orange initially qualified.
Brown and Warren slipped to fifth behind their Optimum team-mates in the final shake up and share row three with Century’s BMW driven by their Silver-Am rivals Jonathon Beeson and Charles Clark, while Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski have work to do from seventh if they’re to challenge their Barwell team-mates for the title.
Gunn, who was on course for individual fastest time before his accident, and Andrew Howard are also overall title contenders. They round out the top eight on what will be the latter’s 157th and final British GT start.
GT4: TITLE OUTSIDER STANTON SNATCHES POLE
A star turn from Josh Stanton put Optimum’s McLaren on course for a clear pole position and at least some hope of overturning a record championship deficit at British GT’s finale.
The Artura ran largely under the radar across the morning’s opening practice sessions, but Stanton turned up the wick when it mattered by dominating Q1 to secure his third pole in the last five attempts with the day’s quickest time of all.
Thomas Holland was the first to set a representative time in Innovation’s Ginetta before Stanton stamped his mark on proceedings. He initially lapped 0.7s faster than anyone else and then strung together another set of purple sectors to pull a full second on the field.
Revie Lake led the fightback aboard the Paddock McLaren that topped both hours of practice, but he could only get within six tenths before the session was halted early to retrieve James Townsend’s Aston Martin from Paddock Hill’s gravel trap.
That cemented Stanton’s advantage over Lake, Holland and Jack Collins’ Century BMW. The early stoppage also hindered MK Racing’s Aston Martin of Jessica Hawkins who was set to cut a second from her best lap before the red flags flew one corner from home.
Stanton’s lap left Gamble with a considerable advantage. And although his first effort was scrubbed for a track limits infringement, the second was more than sufficient to consolidate Optimum’s pole.
Q2 in isolation was incredibly close. Jack Mitchell pulled his usual trick of hauling the Toro Verde Ginetta to the head of the times, albeit by only 0.013s from Gamble, while Blake Angliss was two thousandths further back in the Paddock McLaren that shares GT4’s front row tomorrow.
The combination of Shaw and Mitchell was sufficient for an excellent third overall and Pro-Am pole.
In the overall championship battle, Branden Templeton and Collins’ BMW lines up directly ahead of fellow joint leaders Holland and Hadley Simpson. Grange/FSR’s Aston driven by Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner is sandwiched between them in fifth and also sniffing a title shot, while Will Orton and Hawkins go from seventh.
British GT’s two-hour #BattleOfBrands is live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and Sky Sports F1 at 13:30 BST on Sunday.