> FP1: Result
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Nicki Thiim and Scott Malvern both set fastest-ever British GT3 and GT4 laps around Silverstone this morning when opening practice kicked off the championship’s biggest event of the season.
Times were expected to tumble following the circuit’s recent resurfacing, and so it proved on a dry, slightly overcast morning at the Home of British Motor Racing.
Team Parker’s Callum Macleod set the early pace but was beaten by Thiim’s TF Sport Aston Martin with 20 of the session’s 60 minutes remaining. The Dane’s 1m59.854s was British GT’s first-ever sub two-minute lap around the Arena GP circuit and 0.179s quicker than the #7 Bentley, which held on to finish second.
RJN Motorsport’s Struan Moore also set the Nissan’s fastest lap in the opening half-hour en route to third and just 0.044s behind Macleod, while Yelmer Buurman’s ERC Sport-run Mercedes-AMG made it four manufacturers separated by as many tenths at the top of the timesheets.
Championship returnees Team ABBA Racing were next up thanks to Adam Christodoulou who finished ahead of Marco Sorensen (TF Sport Aston Martin), Ryan Ratcliffe (Team Parker Bentley) and Maxime Martin (Jetstream Aston Martin) who completed a top-eight covered by one second.
The GT4 benchmark was also lowered in the opening session thanks to Scott Malvern who finished head and shoulders ahead of his nearest class rival. The Team Parker Mercedes-AMG’s best of 2m11.699s was 0.765s faster than the Equipe Verschuur McLaren driven by Finlay Hutchison and Dan Mckay, and another 0.079s ahead of the second, albeit Fox Motorsport-run, Mercedes-AMG driven by Michael Broadhurst.
Matthew George’s attempt to race two cars this weekend began in impressive fashion after setting fourth fastest time aboard the Generation AMR Super Racing Aston Martin. His 2m12.609s lap was just 0.066s slower than Broadhurst and two tenths clear of Will Burns’ HHC Ginetta. Tolman’s #5 McLaren shared by Lewis Proctor and Jordan Albert completed the top-six, while Century’s BMWs - #43 ahead of #42 – rounded out the first eight.
The morning’s second practice session begins at 11:40.