Saturday, August 04 2012

Trackspeed dominated the second Avon Tyres British GT Championship free practice session with Jon Minshaw and Tim Harvey heading a one-two before rain curtailed the proceedings today (Saturday) at Snetterton.

The hour long session turned out to be a dice between the two Porsche teams Trackspeed and Motorbase, with their five cars filling the top six positions. The two squads traded fastest times but in the end it was Minshaw and Harvey's 997 RSR which set the fastest time before the red flags and rain brought a premature end to the session. Team mate David Ashburn and Richard Westbrook, who topped free practice one, were second fastest with Motorbase's Daniele Perfetti and Michael Caine third.         

Once again the Beechdean Aston Martin of Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam set the initial pace with a 1.52.470s, with the RJN Nissan GTR of Alex Buncombe and Jann Mardenborough showing glimpses of speed as they held second spot. Scuderia Vittoria's Aaron Scott/John Dhillon Ferrari 458 and the Ecurie Ecosse BMW made the most of the perfect track conditions to move into third and fourth respectively.

The Trackspeed Porsches showed their hand with 20 minutes of the session complete as they stormed to the top of the timing screens courtesy of Ashburn and Westbrook. However, they were unable to hold onto the position as team mate Harvey and Minshaw put together an impressive lap to set a 1:50.992 which was just two tenths of a second quicker.

Motorbase soon upped their pace with their two cars moving into the top four confirming how strong the Porsche is around the Snetterton 300 circuit. Caine and Perfetti equalled the time of Ashburn and Westbrook to move into second with their sister car of Benjamin Hetherington and Steve Parish just two tenths further back. The RJN Nissan squad showed their early pace was no fluke as they moved into fifth splitting the Porsche dominance at the top of the standings. The United Autosports McLaren continued to impress on its first putting with a time good enough for ninth overall.    

However, the field were denied the chance to challenge Minshaw and Harvey for the top spot, as an off for the Oliver Bryant/Alasdair McCaig BMW brought out the red flags. A heavy rain shower minutes later ended any hopes of the session restarting leaving Minshaw and Harvey with the quickest time.

The first of two Avon Tyres British GT Championship qualifying sessions are due to begin at 17:40pm.

Update: The times set in thsi session will form the grid for the second British GT race. 

Avon Tyres British GT Championship Free Practice 2 Results Top 10

1. Jon Minshaw/Tim Harvey, Trackspeed, Porsche 997 RSR, 1.50.922s
2. David Ashburn/Richard Westbrook, Trackspeed, Porsche 997 RSR +0.199s
3. Michael Caine/Daniele Perfetti, Motorbase, Porsche 997 RSR +0.199s  
4. Benji Hetherington/Steve Parish, Motorbase, Porshce 997 RSR +0.409s  
5. Alex Buncombe/Jann Mardenborough, RJN Motorsport +0.931s
6. Steve Tandy/Joe Osborne, Trackspeed, +1.087s
7. Ollie Millroy/Alasdair McCaig, Ecurie Ecosse, +1.346s
8. John Dhillon/Aaron Scott, Scideria Vittoria, +1.469s
9. Matt Bell/Charles Bateman, United Autosports, +1.506s
10. Andrew Howard/Jonny Adam, Beechdean Motorsport, +1.548s