Sandy Mitchell claimed the fastest time in Pre-Qualifying at Brands Hatch, taking advantage of fresh Pirellis to make the #78 Barwell Lamborghini unbeatable from the start.
Down to one car while the #63 underwent its engine change after the practice failure, Barwell still ensured itself a headline by bolting fresh tyres onto Mitchell’s car and giving the Scot clean air to put in a time that left everybody else trailing.
Likewise, Optimum’s McLaren also seemed unbeatable in GT4, with Zac Meakin and Jack Brown continuing to hold the edge ahead of Qualifying later in their McLaren Artura.
Up front, Mitchell was one of the first cars out, found some space and took advantage of the peak of the tyre to open a gap of a second to everybody else before pitting to hand to Alex Martin for the remainder of the session.
Tom Gamble came the closest to toppling Mitchell’s time, closing to within 0.043s in the Optimum McLaren he shares with Mark Radcliffe, while Josh Caygill and Alex Buncombe finished third in their RJN 720S GT3 Evo, just a tenth further back. Maximilian Goetz and Kevin Tse were fourth in their 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG, ahead of Rich and Sam Neary, who again showed well in the Team Abba Mercedes-AMG. Callum Macleod and Mike Price completed the top six in their Greystone GT Mercedes-AMG.
Having topped Free Practice earlier in the day, there would be no stopping the Optimum McLaren in GT4 as Meakin and Brown kept up the pressure.
Meakin hit the front early, but was displaced by Sai Sanjay in the RACE LAB Artura at mid-distance. But Meakin regrouped and set two further laps quicker than anybody to keep the #90 McLaren clear.
Gordie Mutch came closest to matching him, with his and Ian Duggan’s #20 Mahiki Racing Lotus winding up just 0.058s behind in second. Aston Millar and Freddie Tomlinson put the DTO Ginetta inside the top three, while Seb Morris and Charles Dawson were fourth fastest in the Team Parker Racing Mercedes-AMG. Sanjay and Callum Davies were fifth for RACE LAB, with Steven Lake and Nathan Harrison’s Mahiki Racing Lotus completing the top six.
Qualifying at Brands Hatch is scheduled to take place at 15:55 and can be viewed live on the GT World YouTube channel.