TF Sport, first round winners at Brands Hatch at the start of the season, took pole in qualifying for Round Two of the British GT Championship at Rockingham Motor Speedway.
Jonny Adam put in a best lap of 1:16.075 to build on the 1:17.440 of team-mate Derek Johnston to put the #17 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 at the front of the grid. The #70 Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse McLaren 650S GT3, driven by Alasdair McCaig and Rob Bell, completed the front row with a cumulative time of 2:33.553. McCaig was pleased with the result:
“It doesn’t get much tighter than that,” said McCaig. “We knew coming to Rockingham that the car was quick, and we’ve proved that today. Now we need to make sure we deliver tomorrow.”
2015 Drivers Champion Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn qualified third in the #1 Beechdean Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 with a cumulative time of 2:34.213.
Absent from GT3 qualifying, which took place in cool but dry conditions, was the #31 Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3. The team took pole in Round One at Brands Hatch and led for much of the race before the lengthy Code 80. The car sustained damage in FP1 too severe to repair in time for qualifying. Team Parker Racing is focusing its efforts on getting the pace-setting Bentley Continental GT3 on the grid for the race on Sunday.
In GT4 Ginettas enjoyed a second front row lock-out but this time Century Motorsport and PMW World Expo / Optimum Motorsport switched positions from the round one grid. The #50 Ginetta G55 GT4 of Wakefield-based PMW World Expo / Optimum Motorsport took pole with Mike Robinson putting in a 1:22.210, 7 tenths quicker than his team-mate Graham Johnson. The #40 Century Motorsport Ginetta of Sean Byrne and Aleksander Schjerpen was second, 1.1 seconds, on cumulative time, behind the #50 car.
Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse was delighted with Sandy Mitchell and Ciaran Haggerty’s pace in the GT4 qualifying sessions. The #59 Mclaren 570s GT4 will start from third on the grid in class, complimenting the second place in qualifying of their GT3 team-mates.
Century Motorsport was frustrated with the #73 Ginetta G55 GT4 which stopped on the circuit while Anna Walewska was qualifying. Despite being recovered to the garage, the team was unable to get the car back on track in time to allow Nathan Freke to set a time. As the pace-setting car in FP1 and 2, the team will be looking to move quickly through the pack during the race.
The lights go out for the start of two-hour Round Two of the British GT Championship at 13:00 on May 1.
