Farmer, Keen on British GT Poles at Snetterton

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

TF Sport and Barwell Motorsport dominated British GT qualifying at Snetterton on Saturday, with Mark Farmer and Phil Keen on pole for Race 1 and 2, respectively.

Farmer put his TF Sport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 onto pole position for the first race, in the GT3 Am qualifying session.

He will share the car with Jon Barnes on race day, and the pair come to Snetterton fresh from a breakthrough victory at Spa-Francorchamps. Farmer qualified with a 1:49.422 around the Norfolk circuit.

Jon Minshaw will be second on the grid for Barwell Motorsport, ahead of Derek Johnston and Lee Mowle.

Meanwhile, Phil Keen made sure he went one better than co-driver Minshaw, putting the No. 33 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 onto pole in the GT3 Pro session, setting the grid for Race 2 on Sunday.

The Barwell driver lapped with a 1:47.167, which was just 0.051 seconds clear of Jonny Adam in the No. 17 TF Sport Aston Martin.

Alexander Sims will start Race 2 from third on the grid, next to Jon Barnes.

Alex Reed was quickest of the GT4 Am runners for Race 1, taking the class pole in his No. 51 Ginetta G55 GT4 run by Lanan Racing. He co-drives with Joey Foster, and set a 1:57.809.

Graham Johnson will line up alongside in PMW World Expo Racing / Optimum Motorsport’s similar Ginetta, with Sandy Mitchell and Jack Mitchell on the second row.

Beechdean AMR may not be racing in GT3 this weekend, but Ross Gunn has stepped down from the GT3 Aston Martin to the team’s No. 407 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4.

He took pole in the GT4 Pro session, and will start from class pole in Race 2, thanks to a new GT4 lap record of 1:56.710.

Matthew George had qualified into second, but he crashed into the barrier towards the end of the session, bringing out a red flag and ending the action prematurely.

Foster will start third while his co-driver Reed topped Race 1 qualifying. Bradley Ellis completes the top four.

Race 1 starts at 11:50 a.m. local time on Sunday, with Race 2 at 4:05 p.m.

RESULTS: Qualifying (Race 1)
RESULTS: Qualifying (Race 2)

Jake Kilshaw

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