> Result: FP2
Yelmer Buurman unleashed the weekend’s fastest time so far in FP2 to maintain RAM Racing’s early grip on proceedings at Donington Park. Further back, James Kell took GT4 top spot for Speedworks.
RAM finished one-two in the morning session courtesy of Patrick Kujala and Buurman. But this time it was the Dutchman who had the last laugh thanks to a stunning 1m27.047s that left the rest of the GT3 field reeling.
The #6 Mercedes-AMG he shares with Ian Loggie first took control after eight minutes when Buurman posted a 1m28.020s. Two further fastest times followed before his final run ultimately resulted in a 0.4s advantage.
It wasn’t until the final 10 minutes that others managed to break into the 1m27s bracket. Sandy Mitchell was the first to do so but eventually ended up fifth after his Barwell team-mate Phil Keen, Joe Osborne (Balfe Motorsport McLaren) and Scott Malvern (Team Parker Bentley) all improved. Indeed, the final top-four featured as many different manufacturers while the first 13 positions were covered by 1.5s.
Ollie Wilkinson was the sixth and final driver to dip below 1m28s, Optimum’s McLaren finishing a fraction clear of Jenson Team Rocket RJN’s similar example and ABBA Racing’s Mercedes-AMG.
Morning pace-setter Patrick Kujala was only 10th quickest after focusing on used tyre runs.
Behind, Academy Motorsport’s Matt Cowley led the GT4 class for three-quarters of the 60-minute session until James Kell, Connor O’Brien and Euan Hankey all improved in quick succession.
TF Sport’s O’Brien initially led Kell by 0.033s before the Speedworks driver overturned his deficit to finish FP2 with a 0.2s advantage. The Supra’s 1m35.778s was also just one tenth shy of Jordan Albert’s morning best.
Hankey’s late improvement also brought Balfe’s McLaren into the top-three at Cowley’s expense while HHC’s McLarens completed the top-six.
Qualifying begins at 16:00 BST. Follow it live on British GT’s website.