Following the qualifying session for the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Zandvoort several team have collected five place grid drop penalties for the first of the weekend’s races – scheduled for 4pm local time.
All the penalties are due to drivers not completing the minimum three full laps after pitting when the rain arrived half way through the 15 minute session – securing pole position for Ahmad Al Harthy and Oman Air Motorbase in the process.
The highest placed of those to receive the penalty is Steve Tandy, who qualified third fastest in the #888 888Optimum BMW Z4 GT3.
Two of the three Ginetta G55 GT3 will also be moved back down the grid with Colin White being pushed back to 14th, Rob Smith to 16th in the Team LNT entered car. Paul Bailey will also drop back to among the GT4 cars in the GTC class Horsepower Racing Ferrari, his penalty promoting championship leader Andrew Howard up to 18th on the grid.
James May, Matt Smith and Dutch GT Championship driver Marcel Nooren also received penalties. However, their times already meant they were starting at the rear of the field, Smith suffering from a gearbox problem in the Redgate/Lifetime Racing Ginetta G50 that meant co-driver Dan Eagling was unable to set a lap time during the second session. However, they should be able to start the race, the team replacing the unit after the qualifying session.
