TF Sport lock out the British GT front row as HHC take the GT4 pole at Rockingham

HHC take their first ever GT4 pole (Photo by Marc Waller)TF Sport, the 2016 reigning British Gt champions, have locked out the Rockingham front row in qualifying.

The champions from last season, Jonny Adam and Derek Johnston just edged Mark Farmer and Jon Barnes to make the all TF Sport Aston Martin front row. In GT4 HHC Motorsport took their first pole with Stuart Middleton and Will Tregurtha.

GT3: KEEN FASTEST BUT TF SPORT PREVAIL
TF Sport’s front row wasn’t quite as straight forward as it first appears though as Barwell Motorsport’s Lamborghini’s both had times disallowed for track limit infringements.

The session for the Am drivers was very close with Mark Farmer Leading Macmillan’s Jack Mitchell with Johnston just a tenth off that. Rick Parfitt Jr in the Team Parker Bentley was next up, just in front of the AMD Tuning Mercedes and then the two Barwell Lambos, Griffin ahead of Minshaw. The entire top seven was separated by half a second So it was likely the Pro session would decide the grid. Phil Keen came close to snatching pole but despite being the quickest pro, he missed the front row by 0.065 seconds.

Jonny Adam wasn’t quickest but his quick time combined with the great lap from Johnston put them on pole on combined times by 0.245 seconds. Johnston spoke about their session afterwards;

“I made a couple of mistakes on my quick lap that fortunately didn’t have an impact today. But I was very pleased with my pace on old tyres during both free practice sessions, and that’s what will have the biggest impact tomorrow. We won the race from pole last season with a 20-second success penalty, and we ‘only’ have 15 tomorrow! The cars behind us also have penalties so it’s going to be very close, but we’re aiming to win. It all depends on me pulling a gap.”

Each of the top three cars have success penalties to be served when they take their pitstop;

20sec – #33 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 – Minshaw/Keen
15sec – #1 TF Sport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 – Johnston/Adam
10sec – #11 TF Sport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 – Farmer/Barnes
Barwell’s Sam Tordoff put his Lamborghini into fourth after setting the third fastest time of his session.

Parfitt Jr and Seb Morris top the third row with the AMD Tuning Mercedes of Lee Mowle and Ryan Rattcliffe. The Spirit of Race Ferrari was seventh for Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron. Ian Loggie and Callum Mcleod were next in their Bentley which has been rebuilt since their Oulton Shunt.

In GT4, the HHC duo of Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton claimed their first ever pole in British GT after setting a combined time 0.438 second clear of their nearest rivals.

: “It feels great too have secured our first British GT pole – Will and I were really on it during qualifying so we couldn’t have asked for any more. We were hoping to make progress at every meeting but to do it this early feels very special. I guess we’ve made more progress than we expected. We tried a few things in practice for the race and weren’t too fussed about our qualifying pace, so we’re in a good place for tomorrow.”

The Barwell Demon Tweeks lamborghini missed out on pole due to track limits infringements (Photo by Marc Waller) Anna Walewska has a new team mate for this round - George Gamble (Photo by Marc Waller) The Team Parker Bentley has been rebuilt after its Oulton Shunt (Photo by Marc Waller) The Team Abba car had been rebuilt after its Oulton crash (Photo by Marc Waller)

 

 

 

The GT4 Pitstop success penalties are as follows;

20sec – #51 Lanan Racing Ginetta G55 GT4 – Pittard/Reed
15sec – #29 In2Racing McLaren 570S GT4 – Hoggarth/Graham
10sec – #501 PMW Expo Racing/Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT4 – Johnson/Robinson

Anna Walewska lines up twelfth with George Gamble standing in for an otherwise engaged Mike Simpson.

Full times are available from TSL timing.

http://tsl-timing.com/event/171705

The race gets underway on Sunday
at 12:20. Live on the Front runner sports channel. By Marc Waller

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