Despite diverse results for its championship-leading Ecurie Ecosse car, the Barwell garage had much to be pleased with after the two 10-minute qualifying sessions at Snetterton this afternoon.
Lee Mowle’s #888 BMW had led the GT3 field out and was first to set a marker in clear air before Rick Parfitt’s Ginetta had an all-too-brief spell at the top of the timing screen with a 1:51.862.
Ross Wylie showed intent with his McLaren, soon pipping the Ginetta by six tenths, followed rapidly by Liam Griffin’s Oman Racing Aston Martin, shaving another couple of tenths off provisional pole with a 1:51.104. His team-mate Ahmad Al Harthy, partnering Alex MacDowall this weekend, made a further improvement to lead, the team briefly 1-2.
TF Sport’s Andrew Jarman upset the establishment however, his Aston Martin continuing its improving form (and indeed that of its driver) by posting a 1:50.183. Jarman would go on to consolidate this with an improvement to 1:50.124 in a solid demonstration of the car’s progress, delivering its first pole position.
As the times tumbled in it was Parfitt, Attard and Mowle who bounced backwards and forwards, the qualifying roulette favouring Mowle’s BMW as the session came to a close, his 1:50.768 netting fifth on the grid.
Meanwhile, Parfitt’s Ginetta and, more remarkably, Marco Attard’s BMW, tumbled down the order. Attard’s time only found the fifth row: “It’s not a great time, but everyone has come on since last year. It was always going to be tough, but my performance and our penalty has just made things tougher,” said the reigning champion.
An Aston Martin 1-2-3 formed as Liam Griffin hooked up the #6 Oman Racing car for a 1:50.180 to go third. His championship rival Andrew Howard found a little more pace late in the session but will start a row behind.
Top six grid positions for Race 1:
#27 TF Sport Aston Martin: Jarman/Fannin – 1:50.124
#2 Oman Racing Aston Martin: Al Harthy/MacDowall – 1:50.150
#6 Oman Racing Aston Martin: Griffin/Butcher – 1:50.180
#10 VonRyan Racing McLaren 650S: Wylie/Watson – 1:50.512
#007 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin: Howard/Adam – 1:50.539
#888 Triple Eight Racing BMW Z4: Mowle/Osborne – 1:50.768
In no time, the Pros were belted up and on track, the punchy qualifying format of British GT hardly leaving time to draw breath. Notably, the #63 Demon Tweeks Barwell BMW was ready on its pit apron with Phil Keen aboard. Having had to miss the Am session while its front-end rebuild was completed, the Barwell mechanics had delivered the car in impressive fashion.
Lewis Plato had a short-lived moment in the sun, posting the first flying lap before Adam Carroll curtailed RAM Racing’s mood by taking his FF Corse Ferrari fastest with a 1:48.141, the sole 458 having had an uncharacteristic low-key showing in the earlier session.
This was also short-lived, though, as Joe Osborne went quickest for Triple Eight Racing as the times started to roll in. The best of the cluster of improvements was Alexander Sims’ time of 1:47.409; serving notice that his team-mate’s time earlier on should not be viewed as anything more than a blip in terms of their overall standing here.
Sims said: “It was a good lap and the car was great. I had no idea what time I’d done, I was actually a bit surprised to be in the 47s, which sets us up nicely for tomorrow.”
Jonny Adam’s 1:47.409 moved the Beechdean Aston to second, pushing the Osborne BMW to third.
Meanwhile, the interest was with Phil Keen’s Demon Tweeks BMW, the repaired Z4 circulating quickly having crossed the line in clear space four seconds before the chequered flag signalled the end of the session.
Keen and Rory Butcher’s #6 Aston Martin were actually posting identical sector times, but Keen’s efforts through the last few turns netted him sixth, a great reward for the team’s efforts.
This series tends to give with one hand and take with the other, however, and following a great performance earlier on, the Race 1 pole-sitting TF Sport Aston Martin limped into its pit having had barrier contact at the final turn at Murray’s. Consolation for the TF Sport team will come from Matt Bell’s fourth-position performance, the #17 MSW liveried Aston Martin maintaining its competitive pace.
Mike Simpson delivered a great lap for Team LNT to post fifth quickest in some contrast to its Race 1 starting position.
First three rows for Race 2:
#1 Barwell / Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4: Attard/Sims – 1:47.409
#007 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin Vantage: Howard/Adam – 1:47.879
#888 Triple Eight Racing BMW Z4: Mowle/Osborne – 1:48.141
#17 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage: Johnston/Bell – 1:48.461
#32 Team LNT Ginetta GT3: Tandy/Simpson – 1: 48.693
#63 Barwell Racing with Demon Tweeks: Minshaw/Keen – 1:48.788
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