Race Report for Qualifying One
Pole position for Neary in return to the GT Cup
Under a beautiful blue sky, the GT Cup competitors took to the circuit for the first of the weekend’s qualifying sessions. First to throw down the gauntlet was Michael Igoe in the #98 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, with a 1:28.454. Though within the first five minutes of the session, flying laps were interrupted with a red flag. Simon Orange’s stricken #21 Team Hard Ginetta required recovering from the gravel leading to the brief interval in the session.
Green flag racing quickly resumed and the Mercedes GT3 of Sam Neary flew to the top of the times. A 1:27.133 saw the Abba Racing car finish the session less than two tenths ahead of Michael Igoe’s Lamborghini and Shamus Jennings’ Porsche.
It was Lamborghini on top in the all-Italian GTC group battle, with Tom Webb setting the fastest time of the session. Dan de Zille lines up second in the group ahead of fellow FF Corse driver Laki Christoforou.
Top Cats Racing locked out the front row of group GTB with the two Marcos Mantis’ swapping fastest laps throughout the session. Sander Mortensen ultimately finished ahead of team boss Warren Gilbert thanks to 1:32.723. MAS Motorsport return to the grid this weekend and put their Porsche 911 third in group.
The second Team Hard Ginetta had better fortunes than its sister car. Kris Prosser in the #79 set a 1:35.032 putting him ahead of not only his GTA rivals, but also the entire GTH group. Second in group GTA was newcomer Adam Lucas, ahead of Geoff Steel Racing’s #8 BMW.
Quickest in group GTH was Steve Ruston in the #44 McLaren. Initial fastest lap in the group went to Simon Orange, who did manage to make it back out after his excursion and finished second quickest in the group ahead of #54 Brent Millage and #72 Chris Murphy.
