Bright sunshine and a cool breeze around Francorchamps set the scene for the practice and qualifying day for the British GT runners. The best time of the pair of Free Practice sessions was a 2:20.564 set by Phil Keen in the Team Russia by Barwell #63 BMW Z4 during the morning.
The first session was a mostly clean affair, with just one brief red flag stoppage after the #17 Preci Spark Mercedes hit the wall at Les Combes with 15 minutes to go (it managed to get out for FP2). Beechdean’s #007 Aston Martin Vantage of Andrew Howard and Johnny Adam topped the times early, but Keen’s flyer in the first 20 minutes was good enough to remain unchallenged for the remainder.
“It was so fast this morning with the lower temperatures that the lap times later won’t come close,” Keen told DSC. “The car feels the best it’s ever felt after the Spa 24 Hours test. We had a problem with understeer there so the team stripped down the car and rebuilt it, replacing lots of components. So far, the work seems to have paid off!”
Moments after Barwell topped the screens the #6 Oman Racing Aston Martin of Liam Griffin and Rory Butcher had climbed to within three tenths of Keen to slot in second, pushing Beechdean to third. That order went unchanged to the end.
For the Marc VDS Racing team, FP1 was a chance to get its Z4 out for some running. Bas Leinders spoke to DSC during the morning to further explain the team’s appearance in the championship.
“This is just an opportunity for Pascal (Witmeur) to learn the car ahead of the 24 Hours,” Leinders said.” Because it’s a special car – driving for the charity – we are able to fit two seats in the car for the sessions. I’ve been in the car with him coaching, which is a weird experience to say the least. We’re only going to be running during practice.”
Down in the GT4 ranks, the first 60 minutes of action ended with UltraTek’s #53 Lotus Evora of James Nash and Richard Taffinder leading the way. Nash set the car’s quickest lap of 2:33.720 with 20 minutes remaining in the session to leapfrog Gavan Kershaw’s ISSY Racing Lotus at the top of the class. Century Motorsport’s #43 Ginetta rounded out the top three.
“The car feels good,” said Kershaw. “We’re hoping that we are quick enough to just run a good race and finish in the top three. We could do with the Beechdean guys slipping up a bit here!”
Rory Butcher put Oman Racing’s #6 Aston Martin to the fore in the second Free Practice session. The Scotsman’s tour of 2:21.782 just a quarter of the way into the session was good enough to stand at the top until the end. Hotter temperatures meant the overall pace of the field dropped, but Butcher was certain that his best time could have been bettered had he been given a clear lap to work with.
“I had to overtake two cars on my best lap,” he told DSC. “I was just told to do one flyer. The aero on the Aston is great through the quicker corners, so I’m sure there was a better time in it during that session.”
TF Sport’s Andrew Jarman/Jody Fannin Aston finished up second in GT3 with a 2:21.955 and the #63 Barwell Z4 which couldn’t match earlier form managed third a further six tenths back.
It was an unfortunate outing for the Von Ryan squad. The #10 650s which seemingly can’t catch a break this year, sustained rear-end damaged after a shunt only a few minutes into the session.
The Optimum Motorsport GT4 Ginetta with Graham Johnson at the wheel suffered with an engine issue which caused a water leak following an airlock. Ross Wylie who was following close behind had to go off in avoidance at Pouhon due to the car suddenly slowing, steering the McLaren into the barriers. Both cars are due to participate in Qualifying however.
Century Motorsport’s Ginetta fared much better than Optimum’s in FP2 – setting a 2:35.825 to claim the top spot in GT4. Second in the class was the championship-leading Beechdean Aston of Jamie Chadwick and Ross Gunn. The pair, who are still learning the track, seem to have found pace immediately after Gunn’s best time that was just a few tenths off the class leader in FP2.
“We’re still trying to master the track, it’s unlike anything we’ve done before. The extra 40kg of weight on the car doesn’t help either as the Aston feels a little sluggish exiting corners” Gunn explained. “We suspect people are sandbagging as in the second session we expected the pace to drop, but not this much!”
Next up for the British GT runners is Qualifying today at 16:05 local time.
Stephen Kilbey
Images: Jakob Ebrey Photography
