Chris Lulham and Kevin Tse took pole position in a close qualifying session for the British GT Championship’s 2026 Brands Hatch Decider.
The #18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo pairing earned the team’s first pole of the 2026 season with their combined lap time of 2:46.888, marking Tse’s back-to-back Brands Hatch pole since claiming the honour in last year’s event.
Tse put in an encouraging effort to go third-fastest in Q1 before Lulham quickly carried out a strong performance in Q2, earning his first pole position in only his second British GT race meeting.
“It’s been a tough season for ourselves, so to grab pole here in the last round of the season is fantastic,” said Tse “Too bad we’re not in contention for the championship, but hey, we’ll hopefully grab a win.”
“I’ve really enjoyed my time here,” added Lulham. “Obviously, when it comes to performances like that, I can never be upset.
“Honestly, my delta was not set to qualifying…crossing the line, I thought I’d not done enough, but when the team said on the radio ‘Pole’, I was quite elated.”
Qualifying was interrupted by two red flags, firstly in Q2, when a red flag was shown for #7 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo driver Ross Gunn, who experienced a snap of oversteer at Clearways.
He lost control of the car and headed across the gravel and into the barrier, whilst in Q3, solo-driver James Townsend went off at Paddock Hill Bend. His #40 Fox Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo was assisted out and continued on his way ahead of his Q4 participation, acting as his team’s ‘second’ driver as well.
Lulham/Tse beat the championship-leading #63 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 of Rob Collard and Hugo Cook, who set a combined time of 2:47.256 and need to finish on the podium in tomorrow’s two-hour enduro to secure championship glory.
Orange Racing by JMH’s #67 McLaren GT3 Evo took fourth position after Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton’s 2:47.360 time, ahead of another McLaren, the #77 Optimum Motorsport pairing Morgan Tillbrook/Ben Barnicoat (2:47.372).
Optimum’s #90 McLaren of Jack Brown and Marc Warren (2:47.521), the latter confidently topping Q1, ended up fifth, quickest in the GT3 Silver-Am category. Century Motorsport put their #44 BMW M4 GT3 EVO in sixth, second in GT3 Silver-Am, after Jonathon Beeson and Charles Clark’s 2:48.211 lap time.
Barwell’s other #78 Lamborghini starts the race in seventh place owing to Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski’s 2:48.256, both hoping to wrap up the GT3 Silver-Am title — although Waberski is just nine points ahead of Clark in the fight for a seat at the 2027 24 Hours of Spa through the SRO GT Academy prize scheme.
The #7 Beechdean Aston Martin ended up eighth with Howard/Gunn’s 2:48.697 ahead of the #3 Optimum McLaren of Mike Price/Callum Macleod (2:49.182) and the #9 Paddock Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Mark Smith/Martin Plowman (2:49.817).
2 Seas’s #15 Mercedes-AMG rounded out the 11-strong GT3 field with Todd Kingsford setting his lap time of 1:25.059 during Q1, but his teammate Aaron Walker entered Q2 late in the session and was unable to set a competitive time within track limits.
Optimum Motorsport’s Gamble & Stanton earn second pole in GT4
Optimum Motorsport’s #59 McLaren Artura GT4 crew of George Gamble and Josh Stanton earned their second pole position this year in the GT4 category, since Snetterton Race 1.
Their combined time of 3:00.939 beat Donington’s GT4 winners, Paddock Motorsport, with their #84 McLaren duo Revie Lake and Blake Angliss over half a second behind on 3:01.512.
Toro Verde GT’s #42 Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo of Luke Shaw and Jack Mitchell qualified third with their 3:02.309, highest in the GT4 Pro-Am classification. Century Motorsport, who tie on points with Innovation Racing, start in a valuable fourth
position after Branden Templeton/Jack Collins’s 3:02.310 time in the #24 ‘Chomp’ BMW M4 GT4 Evo.
GT4 Pro-Am champions Grange Racing by FSR finished fifth in GT4 outright after Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner completed a combined effort of 3:02.757. Innovation Racing’s Hadley Simpson and Thomas Holland were sixth in the #74 Ginetta with
a 3:02.869, ready to chase ‘Chomp’ in tomorrow’s race.
MK Racing were seventh, with the Q1 red flag halting Jess Hawkins’s significant one-second improvement on her best lap time before she had to abandon it when the session was stopped. With her teammate Will Orton, they set a combined lap time of 3:03.515 in the #21 Aston Martin.
West Surrey Racing were in eighth place with Ernie Graham and four-time BTCC champion Colin Turkington’s 3:04.372 lap time, beating the #8 Toro Verde GT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS of Ian Duggan/Tom Bradshaw (3:04.692).
Townsend’s Q3 and Q4 lap times combined to a 3:05.541, putting him 10th as the #97 GBR Stratton Aston Martin of John Hartshorne/Jordan Collard closed out the grid (3:07.164).
The eighth and final race this year will begin tomorrow at 13:30 BST to crown the 2026 British GT champions.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
