Phil Keen, at the wheel of the #18 WPI Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 he shares with Michael Igoe for the 2021 Intelligent Money British GT Championship, went quickest in the opening practice session for Rounds One and Two. Keen lapped the 2.433 mile Brands Hatch GP Circuit in 1:25.100, just under a third of a second quicker than the #8 Team Abba Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the hands of Richard Neary.
Completing the top three was the #7 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 in the hands of returning 2019 GT3 champion Jonny Adam, the double Le Mans winner putting in a 1:25.478 late in the 60-minute session.
Quickest of the GT4 class runners with a 1:33.120 was the #25 Car Gods with Cicely Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the hands of Jake Giddings and Dave Whitmore. The #9 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 was second quickest with a 1:33.438 followed by the #61 Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 Silver entry of Will Moore and Matt Cowley.
The session got underway under grey skies and with a damp track but the heavy rain of the previous 24 hours seemed to have passed.
Lewis Proctor, at the wheel of the Balfe Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3, set the early pace with a 1:37.077 on his second lap before Nick Jones, driving the #66 Team Parker Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, lapped in 1:36.397.
As the track began to dry, the #1 Barwell Motorsport with 2020 GT3 champion Sandy Mitchell at the wheel, went to the top of the time sheets with a 1:33.505, almost a second ahead of Sam Neary in the #8 Team ABBA Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Phil Keen, in the #18 WPI Motorsport Lamborghini, took over from his teammate and immediately went second quickest with a 1:33.009.
As the 60-minute session approached the half-way mark, teams were looking to switch to slick rubber with much of the circuit drying rapidly. With 30 minutes run Martin Plowman was at the top of the timing screens with a 1:31.530 in the #11 JRM Racing Bentley Continental GT3 but reigning champion Mitchell was looking to start the season where he left off in 2020 and lapped below the 1:30.000 mark just as the session entered its second half.
With most of the teams now on slicks, Scott Malvern was flying in the #66 Team Parker Racing Porsche and went 2.5 seconds quicker than Mitchell with a 1:26.802 before the Scottish driver replied with a 1:26.314.
Time dropped further as the session drew to a close with Lamborghini factory driver Dennis Lind lapping in 1:26.109 after taking over the #63 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini from teammate Leo Machitski.
After the session had run with no interuptions, the red flag was shown with just under a minute remaining due to an off-track excursion at Paddock Hill Bend.
The Intelligent Money British GT Championship is next out for a further 60-minute practice session before qualifying, in a modified format to 2020, gets underway at 16:05.
