The ten-minute ‘Am’ qualifying session was an almost non-event due to the Toyota having some very terminal-looking smoky issues as it left the pitlane from the convoy at the start of the session. It then dropped oil around the track before being parked by Richard Williams. #49 and #73 were off and into the gravel with only a handful of times having been set, most notably Yusuf’s opener of 1:37.857 in the #77 Lotus and a 1:37.741 from Moore in the #61 Academy Aston Martin.
A red flag followed, leaving only enough time for two flying laps at best on the sessions’ resumption. Moore’s first led to no improvement, whereas Yusuf set up a clear open goal for his teammate Kershaw with a 1:37.732 that would not be bettered.
Jamie Chadwick was third fastest in the session in the Beechdean AMR #407 and the invitation class Porsche was fourth.
The Toyota is a confirmed retirement, Team Manager Gary Blackham confirming that the car had lost all its oil. “We saw what we thought was steam as the car left the pitlane but it cleared straight away once he was up to speed so I don’t know what happened and we would just be speculating until we take it all apart but we are done. It has been a frustrating and disappointing season really. We led Silverstone and went from 14th to 2nd at Brands Hatch so we have the pace when the car is right. We have a programme of changes to work through over the winter anyway and we hope to run 2, ideally 3 cars next season.”
In the ‘Pro’ session Kershaw was untouchable with a 1:36.575 out of the box. The ISSY Evora then refused to change gear due to a steering wheel that had not clicked home completely leaving the electrics unconnected. Kershaw was sent back out for another lap stuck in second gear to ensure that the mandatory three timed laps were completed and any grid penalties avoided. An aggregated time of 3:14.307 put ISSY half a second ahead of #61 after Dennis Strandberg’s 1:37.069. Ross Gunn took a further lap before he could produce his best of 1:37.303, leaving the Beechdean car in a very secure third grid spot on a 3:15.493.
PMW Expo Racing/Optimum Motorsport’s #50 Ginetta is vying for runner-up spot in the GT championship, so drivers Graham Johnson and Mike Robinson were doubtless dismayed to see their car slip from fourth to seventh at the end of the session. This was due to late improvements from Christodoulou in the Cayman, Fredrik Blomstedt in the #43 Century Ginetta and a 1:36.708 from Jamie Stanley in the #48 Ginetta.
So the first three rows of GT4 will line up tomorrow in the order: #77, #61, #407, #42, #43, #48.
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