+ RESULT: Pre-Qualifying, Silverstone
A late flying lap from Sandy Mitchell gave Barwell Motorsport the advantage heading into qualifying for the Silverstone 500, with the Scotsman’s best putting the #78 Huracan GT3 Evo he shares with Alex Martin top.
In GT4, Gordie Mutch helped Mahiki Racing to the fastest time, his similarly late effort doing just enough to put the #20 Emira GT4 he shares with Ian Duggan out front.
With the session starting on a damp but drying track, and with no rain on the forecast, there were constant improvements throughout the entire hour, with nobody able to carve a definitive advantage as the track continually improved.
The most representative running came within the final 15 minutes, with all cars on slick Pirellis and the times much closer to what we’d expect. Tom Gamble was the first man to dip beneath the 2min barrier in the Optimum McLaren he shares with Mark Radcliffe. That set up a breathless final few minutes where Dries Vanthoor (Century BMW M4), Fran Rueda (Optimum McLaren), Raffaele Marciello (RAM BMW M4), Jonny Adam (Blackthorn Aston Martin AMR Vantage) and Gamble all repeatedly contested for the fastest time. Things looked settled when Gamble dipped into the 1m58s bracket, only for Euan Hankey to sneak past within the final two minutes in the returning RACE LAB McLaren he shares with Lucky Khera.
But then came Mitchell. Barwell’s Lambos had been quiet for much of the session, but Mitchell rammed home their potential by breaking into the 1m57s with a superb effort on his last tour. Hankey/Khera were second, ahead of Gamble/Radcliffe and Ian Loggie/Phil Keen’s 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG. Adam Smalley and Shaun Balfe were fifth in their Garage 59 McLaren, with Jonny Adam/Giacomo Petrobelli rounding out the top six for Blackthorn Aston Martin.
GT4 was just as unpredictable, with six different brands filling the top spots, and the result only decided when Mutch took the wheel late into the session.
After the initial swathe of improvements had calmed down, it looked like the CMR Ginetta was set to do the double when Stuart Middleton pumped in three laps good enough for top spot, but then came one final wave of improvements when the track was at its best.
Mutch did the best job clocking a 2m09s lap in the Lotus, which was just enough to see off Jamie Day’s Forsetti Motorsport Aston Martin AMR Vantage by under a tenth. Kavi Jundu and Dan Vaughan’s Toyota Gazoo Racing UK GR Supra rose to third, ahead of the Optimum McLaren of Jack Brown/Zac Meakin, which had topped the times mid-session. Such was the rate of improvement that Middleton and Freddie Tomlinson wound up fifth overall, ahead of Carl Garnett and Harley Haughton in the Breakell Racing Mercedes-AMG.
Qualifying for the Silverstone 500 takes place at 15:55.