Race Report for Qualifying Two
Neary nabs pole under sunny Brands Hatch skies
Following yesterday’s wet finish, the skies above Brands Hatch returned to a glorious shade of blue (some might argue it’s a very Webb blue) for Sunday’s qualifying session.
The black and green Neary machine was the first to set a flying lap, though Shamus Jennings quickly knocked him off the top spot. The Porsche and Mercedes swapped fastest times throughout the session, but it was Neary who emerged quickest. A 1:25.963 sits the Team Abba car just one tenth clear of Jennings, setting the stage for an exciting sprint race. Grahame Tilley will start the sprint third on the grid, thanks to a 1:28.905, several seconds quicker than yesterday’s qualifying. Tilley is clearly getting more used to ‘Godzilla’.
Starting fourth overall and leading the GTC group is the Lamborghini of Tom Webb. A 1:29.344 from him was enough to beat both FF Corse Ferraris, with Graham de Zille beating teammate Laki Christoforou to second in the group.
Adam Lucas continues his excellent GT Cup debut with another group GTA pole position. The Ginetta driver had to really work for his position, having a previous pole time deleted due to track limits. Second quickest in the group is the #8 BMW of Richard Marsh and Gareth Howell. The car suffered mechanical issues during Saturday’s running, so the team will no doubt be pleased with this result. Third in the group went to Team Hard who’ve made a fantastic recovery, having rebuilt the #79 Ginetta after a fire in the pit-stop race on Saturday.
It’s McLaren from Ginetta from Aston Martin and Porsche in GTH as John Whitehouse put the #44 on pole position. Every group entrant had a time good enough for provisional pole at various points during the session, suggesting we could be in for a very close sprint race.
A mixed session for the Top Cats Racing team. Frank and Sander Mortensen have elected to take a Marcos Mantis each for today’s track action but only one finished the qualifying session. Sander Mortensen had a moment on the opening lap and brought the car back to the pitlane, while Frank carried on to take the group GTB pole. David Frankland will start second in group.
