Q1
After a ten-minute delay, the first of the two 15-minute qualifying session got underway at 16:30, with the ‘Am’ drivers going out first to set the grid for the first race on Easter Monday.
Chris Hoy was evidently eager to get stuck in and was quite a way clear of the rest of the field when he crossed the line to set the first flying lap – a 1:39.455 being his fastest of the day – and the RJN Nissan was still in fourth place after all cars had completed a lap. Jon Minshaw was quickest at this point in the #33 Trackspeed Porsche, just ahead of Derek Johnston in the #888 BMW and Phil Dryburgh in the #6 PGF-Kinfaun Aston.
With five minutes gone, Marco Attard stopped the clock at 1:36.951 to take provisional pole in the #79 Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4, but Andrew Howard was breathing down his neck in the #1 Beechdean Aston and just a few thousandths adrift.
Pasin Lathouras, meanwhile, was an impressive third on his BGT debut in the #29 AF Corse Ferrari on 1:36.990.
Rick Parfitt Jr headed GT4 at this point in the #42 Century G55, with the #407 Beechdean Aston of Ross Wylie in second. This heralded the start of an excellent duel between the two drivers, with provisional pole swapping back and forth several times during the next few laps.
Paul McNeilly was third in the #48 Fox Motorsport Ginetta.
Gary Eastwood – looking fitter and healthier than ever this year – went fourth just before the halfway point of the session, moments before Howard took his Aston into provisional pole with a 1:36.728. Mark Patterson was also making up for lost time in the United Audi and was up to sixth with a 1:37.343.
But Ahmad Al Harthy was the man changing the colours of the sector times, but a Purple and Green in the first two sectors was followed by a yellow and no improvement from his 19th place. However, the Omani driver had merely backed off and went for it again once he felt the track was sufficiently clear, and this time he found no impediments en route to a pole-grabbing 1:36.147.
Howard tried to respond, but no clear lap presented itself and he had to be content with second.
Attard and Lathouras would share the second row, while Patterson improved to fifth before being usurped by Johnston near the close. Eastwood and Minshaw ended up seventh and eighth, with Mark Poole (MP Motorsport AMR Aston) and Rembert Berg ninth and tenth; the Dutchman improving on his last lap to deny Steve Tandy (12th) Bentley bragging rights. Chris Hoy, meanwhile, ended his first GT qualifying in 14th on 1:38.336.
The GT4 battle ultimately went the way of Wylie to give Beechdean its first class pole (1:45.001), while Andrew Jarman took the TF Sport Aston to third.
Oz Yusuf surprised a few people with his pace in the Lotus Evora and claimed fourth with a 1:46.424, ahead of Oli Basey-Fisher’s #55 Academy Motorsport G55 and Peter Belshaw’s #45 ABG Motorsport BMW M3.
Q2
Richard Abra had the honour of setting the first flying lap in the second session, but his 1:35.309 held provisional pole for mere seconds, before Jonny Adam (1:34.559) and Alexander Sims (1:34.044) went quicker; and as things turned out, the Ecurie Ecosse driver’s first ever qualifying lap in a BMW Z4 GT3 would ultimately be enough to secure pole for Race 2 by 0.291s from the Beechdean Aston.
Steven Kane – masquerading as Rembert Berg on the timing screens all day – went fourth quickest on his first flying lap in the M-Sport Bentley, but found himself going backwards as John Gaw (#6 Aston) and Richard Lyons (#29 Ferrari) both went quicker; and all three would move a further place back as Aaron Scott took the #13 AF 458 into third just after the halfway point.
GT4 saw Jamie Stanley in the Fox Ginetta claim provisional pole from Bradley Ellis’ Twisted G55, but only until Gavan Kershaw celebrated his return to the series with a 1:43.994 in the ISSY Racing Evora.
Dan Cammish then went second in the Parker Porsche, while Jake Giddings gave chase in third in the #407 Aston.
Michael Caine took the #4 Oman Racing Vantage to fifth in GT3 with six minutes to go, but late improvements from Kane saw the M-Sport Bentley regain fourth by the close. Only a few further improvements were noted over the closing minutes as more and more cars parked up – Sims being the first to pit after just four laps – but Rory Butcher was one of them in the second Oman Aston, improving to eighth near to the end. The session ended two minutes prematurely after Tom Sharp’s G55 GT3 rolled to a halt under the Warwick Bridge and brought out the red flags.
The top three remained unchanged in GT4, with Devon Modell (#49 Aston), Jamie Stanley and Tom Oliphant (#42 Ginetta) completing the top six in class. The #47 Silverstone Auctions Aston did not participate in either session for reasons as yet unascertained.
That brought proceedings to a close for the day, leaving the teams with Easter Sunday free to work on the cars. Encouragingly, the #12 Trackspeed Porsche appears on the published grid, suggesting that the third car will be being prepared before Warm-Up arrives on Easter Monday morning.
MH
