Optimum Motorsport driver Ben Barnicoat continued his form into pre-qualifying, going fastest again in the #77 McLaren GT3 Evo at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
The championship-contending #77 machine showed promising form in both one-hour free practice and pre-qualifying sessions so far in this final race meeting of the 2026 British GT season.
Barnicoat, competing here for the first time since 2021, set a fastest time of 1:23.503, beating Chris Lulham’s time in the #18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, a 1:23.685.
Barwell’s championship-leading #63 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Hurácan GT3 EVO2 was third after Hugo Cook’s 1:23.760 lap time.
Marcus Clutton took fourth position in the #67 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren, setting a 1:23.894.
Aaron Walker put the #15 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG in fifth place and quickest in the GT3 Silver-Am classification after a 1:24.013, followed by Jarrod Waberski in the #78 Barwell Lamborghini (1:24.050) contesting for both the GT3 Silver-Am and outright GT3 titles.
Optimum’s #3 McLaren driver Callum Macleod went seventh-quickest. His 1:24.052 lap time put him in front of Charles Clark’s #44 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO (1:24.136).
Martin Plowman was ninth quickest in a newly acquired #9 Paddock Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo (1:24.211) and Ross Gunn was 10th in the #7 Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (1:24.392).
Jack Brown rounded out the GT3 field in the #90 Optimum McLaren with his 1:24.977.
Blake Angliss also went quickest in the GT4 category, after topping free practice, with a quicker benchmark lap time of 1:31.145 in the #84 Paddock Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4.
Esteemed Aston Martin factory driver Darren Turner claimed second, fastest in the GT4 Pro-Am rankings, in the #27 Grange Racing by FSR Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo (1:31.259).
Four-time BTCC champion Colin Turkington put the #61 West Surrey Racing BMW M4 GT4 Evo in third after his time of 1:31.277.
Jack Mitchell claimed fourth place in the #42 Toro Verde GT Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo (1:31.432) ahead of the team’s #8 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS, which set a 1:31.605 in the hands of Tom Bradshaw.
Track limits will play a key role in qualifying later today at 16:15 BST, determining the grid order for tomorrow’s two-hour enduro.
Image courtesy of SRO/JEP
