+ Provisional result: Snetterton, Pre-Qualifying
Maximilian Götz kept 2 Seas Motorsport out front in Pre-Qualifying at Snetterton, while GT4 championship leaders Jack Brown and Marc Warren set the bar high bar for their rivals in their Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura.
As track temperatures continued to rise, it became clear many of the teams went into conservation mode, opting to save their ultimate performance for Qualifying later. While Götz grabbed the fastest time in the final quarter of the session, he could well have been displaced by both Sandy Mitchell’s Barwell Lamborghini and Sven Müller’s Team Parker Racing Porsche, who were both on for outright fastest laps before bailing for the pits before completing them.
Jonny Adam led the early times in the Blackthorn Aston Martin before Tom Wood’s Beechdean version and Martin Plowman in the Paddock McLaren both deposed him. Adam went for another push lap and restored himself out front, only for Marcus Clutton (Orange Racing McLaren) to go quicker, immediately followed by Hugo Cook (Barwell Lamborghini) reducing the benchmark further. Callum Macleod then took a turn out front in the #3 Optimum McLaren before Götz trimmed the gap to 0.2s on his first flier, and then pushed past by the same margin with his second.
The #18 Mercedes-AMG would remain out front from there as others retired to the garages to reset ahead of the Qualifying shootout later. Müller got within 0.038s of fastest before bailing out, with the twin Optimum McLarens third and fourth, Marvin Kirchhöfer and Morgan Tillbrook leading Carl Cavers and Macleod. Plowman and Mark Smith were fifth for Paddock, with Cook and Rob Collard sixth.
Marc Warren and Jack Brown showed why they will be ones to watch this weekend by dominating the GT4 contest. Brown initially put their #90 Artura top before Charlie Robertson improved in the Century BMW, only for Warren to produce two laps good enough for top spot, moving the points-leading car 0.8s clear.
Robertson and Ravi Ramyead remained in second, with Steven Lake and Blake Angliss improving late on to move their Mahiki Racing Ginetta into the top three. Luca Hopkinson/Harry George (Optimum McLaren) were fourth ahead of practice pace-setters Joe Wheeler/Ian Duggan (Mahiki Ginetta) and Jon Currie/Phil Keen (Team Parker Mercedes-AMG).
Qualifying is up next at 15:45.