Reigning British GT drivers’ champion Rob Collard and Hugo Cook headed up a 1-2 for Barwell Motorsport in qualifying this afternoon at Donington Park.
Collard topped his session before Cook completed the job to claim the #1 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2’s first pole position this season with a combined lap time of 2:53.582.
Barwell’s other #78 Lamborghini claimed second for tomorrow’s race after Alex Martin and Squadra Corse factory driver Sandy Mitchell set a combined time of 2:53.792.
Orange Racing by JMH’s #67 McLaren GT3 EVO qualified third in the hands of Matt Topham – returning for his fourth season appearance – and teammate Marcus Clutton, having set a combined time of 2:54.060.
The championship-leading #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo finished fourth owing to the efforts of Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss and their 2:54.221.
Beechdean’s #97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo was the highest out of the two GT3 Silver-Am entrants, with Andrew Howard taking P4 in his session before Tom Wood completed the job. Their combined time was 2:54.257, enough for fifth on the grid.
Blackthorn’s #7 Aston Martin took sixth in the hands of Giacomo Petrobelli and four-time champion Jonny Adam’s 2:54.265.
2 Seas’ #18 Mercedes-AMG finished seventh as Kevin Tse and Maximilian Götz set a combined time of 2:54.492.
Optimum Motorsport’s #77 McLaren qualified behind in eighth position in the hands of Morgan Tillbrook and McLaren factory driver Marvin Kirchhöfer, setting a 2:54.681 together.
Team Parker Racing claimed ninth with its #66 Porsche 911 GT3.R with a 2:55.024 from Nick Jones and works driver Sven Müller, although they will start in 12th due to their three-place grid penalty from Müller’s incident with Martin Plowman last time out at Brands Hatch.
As a result, Darren Leung and Nick Yelloly’s #22 Blackthorn Aston Martin start tomorrow’s race in ninth from their combined effort of 2:55.152.
The #9 Paddock Motorsport McLaren starts the final round in 10th after Mark Smith and Martin Plowman reeled off a 2:55.366.
The sole interruption of the session was at the beginning when Richard Neary’s #8 Team Abba Mercedes-AMG went slowly onto the right-hand side grass at Hollywood Corner, before he stopped, thus triggering a red flag before any driver began setting lap times.
Team Abba Racing starts last on the grid after their reliability issue prematurely ended their qualifying.
In the GT4 category, Luke Garlick and Blake Angliss secured pole position for the #69 Mahiki Racing Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo after setting a 3:07.839.
Championship leader, Century Motorsport, put its #71 BMW M4 GT4 Evo in second position thanks to Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson’s efforts.
Their 3:08.684 combined lap time put them three places ahead of their nearest championship rivals, the #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4, which is 3.5 points behind them in the drivers’ standings.
Ed McDermott and Seb Morris qualified in third position aboard the #12 Team Parker Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, which sustained damage during Thursday testing but was repaired in time for the weekend.
The #12 Mercedes-AMG set a combined time of 3:09.140 ahead of the GT4 class winners from last time out at Brands Hatch, the #17 Optimum Motorsport McLaren of Harry George and Luca Hopkinson (3:09.177).
Optimum’s other #90 McLaren took fifth place with a combined time of 3:09.242 by Marc Warren and Jack Brown, the latter driver racing for his second GT4 title, and would become the first back-to-back champion if the #90 beats the #71 BMW tomorrow.
The #14 Century Motorsport BMW took sixth place after Chris Salkeld and Branden Templeton reeled off a 3:09.475.
MKH Racing’s #31 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo finished seventh with Owen Hizzy and Michael Orant’s 3:10.233.
Keen and Jon Currie will start tomorrow’s race after their 3:11.856 in the #30 Team Parker Mercedes-AMG.
Jolt Racing rounded out the GT4 grid of nine entrants with its #37 McLaren and drivers Rupert Williams and John Ingram (3:15.120).
The 120-minute Donington decider will take place from 13:15 local time tomorrow.
Images courtesy of JEP/SRO
