Minshaw, Morris Take British GT Poles at Oulton

Photo: British GT

In a different than usual British GT qualifying session, Jon Minshaw and Seb Morris took pole positions for Oulton Park Race 1 and Race 2 respectively.

Instead of the normal format of combining Pro and Am times, the double-header round had the Am drivers qualifying for the first race and Pro drivers for the second race.

Minshaw set a laptime of 1:35.579 in his Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 in the GT3 Am session, and as such he and Phil Keen will start Monday morning’s race from pole position.

Liam Griffin put the other Barwell car into second position, while Rick Parfitt Jr. qualified his Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3 to third.

Derek Johnston, winner of both races so far this season, will start fourth alongside Jonny Adam.

Seb Morris was the quickest driver in the GT3 Pro session, putting his Team Parker Bentley onto pole for the second race, after team-mate Parfitt came third in the Am session.

A 1:33.606 from the Bentley driver was 0.031 seconds quicker than Rob Bell’s McLaren 650S GT3, while Keen qualified third in the Lamborghini that will start from first in the other race.

“We didn’t quite get the tires up to temperature so I actually think there’s a bit more pace in the car,” said Morris.

“I’m looking forward to taking my first ever start in the Bentley on Monday, provided of course Rick [Parfitt Jr.] keeps his nose out of trouble in the first race!

“It’s nice to reinforce what people saw at Brands and know pole there wasn’t a fluke. Three hundredths wasn’t much in the end, but it was just about enough!”

Ross Gunn and Jonny Adam will complete the top five on the Race 2 grid. Adam Carroll’s best time was deleted for a track limits infringement, and so he will start sixth.

Impressively, the top eight cars in the Pro session were covered by just 0.701 seconds.

A crash for William Phillips in the RCIB Insurance Racing Ginetta GT4 caused the GT4 Am session to be red-flagged, although the session was eventually extended, allowing Graham Johnson to take pole position.

The Optimum Motorsport driver set a 1:43.866 in his Ginetta G55 GT4, 0.124 seconds ahead of Jack Bartholomew’s Beechdean AMR entry. This decides the GT4 front row for the first race.

Mike Robinson ensured the No. 50 Optimum Ginetta would start from class pole in both races, with a 1:43.108 set during the GT4 Pro session.

Scott Malvern took second position at the last moment in his Ginetta, ahead of Ciaran Haggerty in the Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse McLaren 570S GT4.

Race 1 starts at 11:15 a.m. local time on Monday, with Jon Minshaw’s Barwell Lamborghini and Graham Johnson’s Optimum Ginetta to start from the GT3 and GT4 poles respectively.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.