Jonny Adam and Derek Johnston continued TF Sport’s rich vein of form in the Pirelli British GT Championship, by taking pole-position for tomorrow’s two-hour race at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby.
Both drivers excelled in their respective sessions with Johnston delivering a 1:17.440 lap, and Adam a 1:16.075 in the later PRO session, which ensured they took their first pole together after their first victory together a fortnight ago.
A highly pleased Adam commented: “My lap was okay, I left a tenth at the final chicane. It would’ve been nice to have a bigger buffer to second, because I think the McLaren is very close to us. Their car has been bang on it all weekend though.
“It’s going to be hard to get back the time lost by the success penalty, but Derek’s pace is mega, again, for the second weekend in a row. We tested well here, so Derek is comfortable. We just need to make sure we don’t make mistakes in traffic, as it’s now the shortest lap of the calendar. If we can get a top five tomorrow, it’ll have been a good day, but it will be very close as we saw today.”
Johnston was jubilant, adding, “when I came across the line I saw a 1:17.4 I was disappointed, but I was confused by what times I’d done earlier, so it took me a while to register that I was quickest! That said, I’m very pleased with the result and my performance. It’s my second year with TF Sport and things just seem to be clicking.”
The second TF Sport Aston Martin of Jon Barnes and Mark Farmer missed qualifying following an engine issue that is believed to require a replacement.
Rob Bell and Alasdair McCaig gave Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse its first front row start with the McLaren 650s, with McCaig excelling around the 1.94-mile Corby circuit to post a 1:17.587, just a tenth off the TF Sport Aston Martin. This is Bell’s first race weekend at Rockingham since 2011, and his first ever in a GT car.
McCaig remarked: “I think I was just three hundredths off pole, so there wasn’t much between myself and Derek, and I’m pretty happy. We’ve got a long race ahead tomorrow, and we’re in good shape.”
Team-mate Bell added, “We found our feet at Brands Hatch, but didn’t cover ourselves in glory. So we spent some time looking at how to improve and we’re pleased with the result today. Two hours is a long time around Rockingham and the tyre degradation here is often high, so that will be a factor. Anything can happen tomorrow, but we’re happy with our efforts so far.”
Always a contender at Rockingham is the Beechdean-AMR Aston Martin, this year piloted by Ross Gunn and reigning champion, Andrew Howard. After Gunn’s impressive display at the opening round, Howard was fifth in the AM session (1:18.179) and combined the pacey duo qualified third. It’s worth noting the #1 Aston Martin along with the Ecurie Ecosse McLaren run without ‘success’ pit time adjustments in the race tomorrow.
Series returnee Adam Carroll, making his debut in the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini, went quickest in FP1, and was fifth in qualifying, but crucially just 0.4s off Adam’s pole time. Liam Griffin went two places better in the AM session, qualifying third (1:18.053), pipping the other Barwell driver, Jon Minshaw, by half a second.
Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen arrived in Northamptonshire looking to get their 2016 campaign up and running after exiting the Brands Hatch opener far quicker than they would’ve hoped. Keen’s 1:15.871 in the Barwell Motorsport’s Demon Tweeks backed Lamborghini was the fastest of all PRO drivers, and Minshaw (1:18.580) seventh among the gentleman drivers.
It was a challenging day for the AMDtuning.com BMW Z4 of Joe Osborne and Lee Mowle. The pair lost their first practice due to a fuel supply issue, and then both drivers had issues downshifting into the Deene Hairpin, putting them sixth on the grid, when arguably more was achievable.
Optimum Motorsport’s fortunes improved after the tricky Brands Hatch weekend. A test session in Anglesey earlier in the week gave Will Moore improved confidence in the stunning Audi R8 LMS, and the young Silver driver qualified fourth in the AM group, with a 1:18.080. Ratcliffe, himself a Silver-graded driver, finished with a 1:17.902 (eleventh in PRO) after having a time removed for exceeding track limits, with the added 50kg that comes with running a Silver/Silver pairing, proving an issue for the British duo.
Tolman Motorsport overcame free practice woes to qualify eighth with Ian Stinton and Michael Simpson’s #8 Ginetta G55, and eleventh with David Pattison and Luke Davenport in the sister #56 car. Alternator issues again robbed the #8 of free practice running and a driveshaft issue for Pattison and Davenport put them on the back foot too.
Splitting the pair of Tolman Ginettas were the Motorbase Aston Martin of Ross Wylie and Phil Dryburgh in ninth, and Team ABBA with Rollcentre Racing tenth. Wylie had times removed for exceeding track limits and posted several laps better than his 1:17.381, and his team-mate Dryburgh recovered from an outlap off to register a 1:19.596 lap, his best of the day. Motorbase’s enigmatic Team Principal David Bartrum was absent today, believed to be in Germany speaking with a manufacturer.
Jody Fannin delivered another good qualifying performance for PFL Motorsport with a 1:16.630 tour of the Rockingham Motor Speedway, good enough for sixth in PRO. Unfortunately for Fannin’s team-mate Peter Littler, the challenge of Rockingham was significant and he could only deliver a 1:25.503 some 4.8s slower than Pattison’s Ginetta.
The Team Parker Racing Bentley didn’t take part in qualifying or the earlier free practice session after an early off in the first practice. It is believed the car, which has a damaged chassis, will return for the race tomorrow.
Sunday’s race gets underway at 13:00 BST, but with no live television option in 2016, you really need to make your way to Corby tomorrow to witness what promises to be a very lively encounter.
