FP2: Slick-shod Green and Fielding leave it late to top Silverstone’s drying second session

FP2: Slick-shod Green and Fielding leave it late to top Silverstone’s drying second session

> Result: FP2

 

A drying track produced a thrilling end to Silverstone’s second practice session, which was topped by the only cars to set times on slick tyres. Century’s Ben Green ended up 2.4s quicker than anyone else, while Sennan Fielding’s Steller Performance Audi was more than four seconds faster than anyone else in GT4.

 

The 60-minute session began in similar conditions to those experienced at the end of FP2. Indeed, Callum Macleod’s 1m18.8s was only a second quicker than the best from the wet morning session. He’d remain out front until the final 20 minutes when Glynn Geddie’s Team Parker Bentley and Rob Bell’s Balfe McLaren both enjoyed spells at the top.

 

It was a mark of the improving track conditions that Bell, who parked up with five minutes remaining, would end the session 11th quickest. Instead, it was Green – the only GT3 driver to try slicks – who ended up fastest after benefitting most from the drying line.

 

His best of 2m10.361s – still 10s shy of last year’s qualifying pace – was 2.4s quicker than Phil Keen after the Barwell ace improved on his final lap. That bumped Beechdean AMR’s Marco Sorensen and Optimum’s Oliver Wilkinson down to third and fourth after the pair posted identical times.

 

Dennis Lind (WPI Motorsport) finished fifth, while ABBA Racing’s wet weather specialist Richard Neary impressively split the Pros en route to sixth.

 

GT4 was just as much of a lottery before Sennan Fielding settled matters emphatically in Steller’s favour by bolting on a set of Pirelli slicks for his final running. The Audi’s best of 2m20.226s was 4.5s faster than Mike Robinson’s Optimum Aston Martin, which had looked set to top the session.

 

Multimatic Motorsport’s Harrison Newey and Chad McCumbee both spent time near the top throughout the hour, but it was the latter who ultimately gave the #19 entry third fastest time ahead of Callum Pointon, whose HHC co-driver Dean Macdonald earlier paced FP1.

 

Four Aston Martins were next up: Academy’s Alex Toth-Jones leading TF Sport’s Josh Price, Beechdean AMR’s Kelvin Fletcher and TF Sport’s second entry driven by Ash Hand, who held provisional top-spot with less than five minutes remaining.

 

Today’s qualifying session, which looks set to be dry, is scheduled to begin at 16:05. Follow it live on BritishGT.com/live-timing.