> Result: FP1
2 Seas Motorsport made a superb return to Intelligent Money British GT action with Hunter Abbott and Martin Kodrić putting the team top of the times during the opening free practice session at Silverstone this morning.
Another newcomer starred in GT4, with Matt Topham and Darren Turner securing the fastest time aboard the Newbridge Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage.
GT3
The morning session began under overcast skies but, crucially, remained dry throughout, which allowed Kodrić to set a 1m59.037s on his final flying lap.
During the early stages it was another returning squad that made an early impact as Charlie Eastwood wasted little time in putting the #38 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage he shares with Giacomo Petrobelli at the head of the times.
Eastwood’s lap was good enough to lead the pack for the entire first half of the session, before 2 Seas installed Kodrić and sent the Croatian ace out on the hunt. He hit top spot a few moments later and, even though TF sent Eastwood out again for a second run late in the session, Kodrić further lowered the benchmark on his final flier to finish the session a quarter of a second clear.
Marco Sørensen brought the second TF Sport Aston he shares with Bonamy Grimes into third late on, just pipping the RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG of Ian Loggie and Yelmer Buurman. Richard and Sam Neary made it three Mercedes-AMGs inside the top five with their Abba Racing machine, with Morgan Tillbrook/Marcus Clutton finishing as the fastest McLaren in sixth spot.
Nick Jones and Scott Malvern were seventh fastest aboard the Team Parker Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, with Brendan Iribe and Ollie Millroy rounding out the top eight in the Inception Racing McLaren.
GT4
Darren Turner produced a late special to sneak the Newbridge Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage into top spot during the dying moments of the session, dampening what had otherwise been a near-perfect session for Steller Motorsport’s Audi.
Sennan Williams put the Audi top very early in the session, and his 2m11.2sec looked almost unbeatable as he enjoyed a healthy gap over the rest of the field for much of the hour.
Indeed, Steller looked stellar right up until the final few minutes when Turner took over the Newbridge Aston from Matt Topham and immediately began to eat into the Audi’s benchmark. Having come within two tenths on his first attempt, Turner then bettered it to lead the class by just 0.087s and put the Pro-Am crew out front. Steller did retain the fastest GT4 Silver Cup time in second, though.
John Ferguson and Scott McKenna were third fastest in the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK Supra, ahead of Brands Hatch winners Will Burns and Gus Burton in the Century Motorsport BMW M4.
Mark Samson and Charlie Robertson’s Assetto Motorsport Ginetta G56 was fifth, just ahead of the second Century BMW of Chris Salkeld/Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke. Dave Whitmore and Jake Giddings put the Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes-AMG seventh, with Will Moore and Matt Cowley rounding out the top eight in their Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang.
