The Barwell team were busy in the run-up to qualifying, with the #69 Huracan having damage to the front-left corner at least after Cocker’s crash in free practice and the #2 car also coming back on the end of a tow rope. Team director Mark Lemmer was unsure what shape they’d be in for qualifying, but on the evidence of practice, there won’t be any concerns for #33 for either driver come the afternoon’s qualifying sessions.
The #68 Toyota was up and running again in FP2, but both of the little GT86s were still a little way off the pace. Elsewhere in GT4, there are no concerns following the incident for the #54 Nissan 370Z in FP2 – the car is fully expected to be up to speed for qualifying.
HHC Motorsport Team Principal Charlie Kemp was in neutral mood in the run-up to qualifying. The transporters and pit set-up are evidence of a serious effort and are part of Kemp’ “doing my damndest to see if we can win the title again. We came in last year and hoped we would do well, but with one car to win the teams’ and drivers’ championship exceeded all our hopes and expectations.
“It’ll be almost impossible to repeat it, but I don’t see why we can’t be in the mix. We have a great and proven Silver/Silver pairing in Callum Pointon and Patrik Matthieson; and another strong Pro/Am option in Mike Newbould and Will Burns. They both need a different approach; we need Mike to continue improving, but we’re pleased with his progress so far.
“Practice hasn’t told us much; we had a lot of red flags and we don’t know where everyone else really is, but everyone is getting on and we’ll see where we are in qualifying.”
It’s bitterly cold at Oulton Park, but a few brave drivers were pacing the paddock and we caught up with a few.
Ben Tuck (#42 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4)
Century got their first car in late February 2018 and the second car only a few weeks ago. They acquitted themselves well in practice, being within a second of the quickest in class for each session.
“We’ve only done the media day as our only time in the car and that isn’t even a proper test day! It was always going to be very difficult for us, but it was nice to have a few laps of proper wet running at the start and then a good range of conditions in FP1. It feels like we’ve really progressed already; this round is all about improving the car and learning how to set it up, but it already feels good, nicely balanced in all conditions and I think I was the first in the class to change to slicks. I suspect when it’s completely dry or completely wet we might struggle though.”
Rick Parfitt Jnr (#1 Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3)
“In FP1 it was still so wet offline at the end of the session that there was no point switching to slicks. We concentrated on setting up for changeable conditions. We know the inherent problem with this car is that it’s not good in the wet, so that was an interesting session for us. We’ve a whole new challenge this year, for Ryan too. We have a new engineer and we’re the lowest gold pairing, so to be honest we aren’t feeling any pressure. Whatever we get, we get from each meeting – points mean prizes – and I think if we can pick up points at each round then top five is a realistic aim for the season.”
Derek Johnston (#17 TF Sport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3)
“It’s the same car and the same team for me, so much is exactly the same. But then again after six months off you forget what it’s like to go racing again! This season will be very close, I think races could even come down to who gets their tyre pressures right in qualifying, or who misses an apex by two feet, which can be so frustrating.
“The Pirelli is a different tyre with a harder sidewall to last year, so we need to find a bit of setup at each track for that, it isn’t massive but we do need to make a change to what we already know because of it. Aston Martin are brilliant at supporting us, I can’t say a bad thing about them and I think this huge investment in the works drivers is brilliant, they’ve pulled a blinder for the Championship. These factory boys are on another level, just flat everywhere! But all the pro drivers are really strong, it’s going to be such a close fight.”
Marco Sorensen (#17 TF Sport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3)
“It’s hard to say where we are yet, I think it’ll be Monday when we have the full answer. It’s good to be back racing on some classic racing circuits; I love Oulton Park and Brands Hatch. It was a drying session this morning so as long as you were on the track you were going faster. We still have lots to work on, but we we’re there or thereabouts. It’s great to have so many good drivers in the championship. To be honest, I’m only focused on our car, although it’s a nice opportunity for everyone and it really lifts the championship.”
Jonny Adam (#75 Optimum Motorsport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3)
“We’ve got quite a good mileage for Flick [Haigh] now with our running yesterday and today and are seeing where she fits in. She has done some good times and the car felt really good after quite a few overnight changes. The Aston is normally not bad around here. Qualifying will be key; these are big cars and it’s not easy to overtake here. This weekend is going to be all weather-dependent, Monday certainly looks like being grim!
“I think Monday could be about keeping the car on the black and not making any mistakes in either race, but starting in a good place will be important. You have to look to get your best time in the first two or three laps with these tyres, but the qualifying sessions are really short anyway.”
Rob Bell (#101 Balfe Motorsport McLaren 650S GT3)
“It’s great to be here with McLaren and this is my one series for the year, although I am doing lots of things with McLaren too. It’s not great for us here at the moment. We have a new tyre and we don’t really understand it yet. We only have one car, so unlike say the 3 Lamborghinis where they can try three different tyre pressures at the same time, we are playing a bit of catch-up really. I’m not too hopeful about qualifying but we’ll see.”
Team-mate Shaun Balfe added: “When we put new tyres on and just drive it for 10 minutes that will mask it all anyway, so we won’t learn anything from that, but that’s what we’ll do, we’ll just drive it!”
Lee Mowle (#116 ERC Mercedes-AMG GT GT4)
“This is Yelmer’s first time in the car on this circuit, his first time back at Oulton Park since F3 12 years ago so it’s a pretty impressive performance to get dialled in as quick as he did and do the kind of lap he did. The team have done well to get the car in a good place for both dry and wet running and it felt really good in the wet. If it’s raining on Monday I think we should do well. We have a good compromise on the car, too, which should allow Yelmer to do a good lap when he needs to whilst still being driveable for me.
“The Mercedes is really good on its tyres, in fact it might be a bit too good here, because we struggle to get tyre temperature, so it only really switches on after three or four laps as opposed to the Lamborghini that can turn it on straight away. If it’s cold and dry on Monday, the first two or three laps will be hard work for us. Then again, for three hours around Silverstone later in the year, it’ll be an advantage.
“I think the Aston Martins will be the marque to beat, they have a phenomenal Pro and Am line-up. The new-generation GT4 cars are a challenge, too. Four years ago you could sail past them quite comfortably, but now I’ve found I have to back off early going into a corner to get a run on them through and out of the corner, because if you come out behind them at the same speed, you’ll only just be able to get alongside and slowly start to pass them. If you get one in the wrong place, you could lose two or three seconds.”
