> Result: Free Practice 2
The fight for top spot in the final free practice session at Silverstone was almost too close to call, with multiple crews taking a turn out front… until Sandy Mitchell crushed all comers with a stunning effort in the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan that indicates the circuit lap record could well fall in qualifying this afternoon.
After a strong start to the season at Oulton Park, the Steller Motorsport Audi R8 crew of Richard Williams and Sennan Fielding again showed their title credentials, with the championship leaders heading the GT4 order.
A total of eight cars enjoyed a turn in the spotlight at the head of the GT3 order across the final practice hour, and things initially looked finely balanced until Mitchell’s late effort put him well clear.
Jamie Caroline led the early running in the #15 RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG before Phil Keen (WPI Lamborghini), Angus Fender (Century Motorsport BMW M4), Lewis Williamson (2 Seas Mercedes-AMG), Euan Hankey (7TSIX McLaren), Will Tregurtha (Assetto Motorsport Bentley) and Callum Macleod (#6 RAM Mercedes-AMG) all took a turn out front as five different brands scrapped over the fastest time, often with fractions of a second between them.
RAM appeared set for a one-two, as Caroline again reasserted himself over Macleod at the top by three tenths before handing across to John Ferguson, but then came Mitchell, whose 1m57.1s effort putting Barwell top by a huge 1.3s – the effort already being below the current qualifying lap record.
Ferguson/Caroline remained second for RAM, with a late improvement from Martin Plowman moving himself and stand-in co-driver Andrew Howard up to third in the Paddock Motorsport McLaren.
Sam Neary conducted most of the session and finished fourth fastest in the Mercedes-AMG he shares with father Richard, with Macleod/Ian Loggie staying fifth in the #6 RAM Mercedes-AMG. Morgan Tillbrook/Marcus Clutton rounded out the top six in their Enduro Motorsport McLaren.
Having celebrated a win and a podium finish last time out in Cheshire, Steller Motorsport’s Richard Williams and Sennan Fielding put themselves in a great position to carry on their good form by leading the way in GT4.
Matt Cowley opened the scoring with an impressive effort aboard the Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang, which actually kept the car out front for the vast majority of the session before Williams finally overhauled the benchmark.
Ross Wylie and Matthew Graham were third fastest in the Valluga Racing Porsche 718 Cayman, with Seb Hopkins elevating the Team Parker Racing Cayman he shares with Jamie Orton to fourth. Chris Salkeld/Tom Rawlings were fifth fastest in the #9 Century Motorsport BMW M4, with Josh Miller/Jamie Day taking sixth in the R Racing Aston Martin Vantage. The leading Pro-Am car was seventh fastest, with David Holloway and Bradley Ellis taking the spot in Century’s #21 Aston Martin Vantage.