British GT

Minshaw and Keen Take GT3 Pole at Donington

2 Mins read
Barwell_33_Donington
Credit: Craig Robertson Photography

Title contenders Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen gave themselves the best possible chance of overturning their 27.5-point championship deficit by claiming a commanding pole position for Sunday’s British GT race.

Both drivers set the fastest times in their respective Am and Pro sessions on a damp but drying track that played perfectly to the Barwell Lamborghini’s squad’s strengths.

Minshaw initially set the tone by lapping 1.222s quicker than Graham Davidson whose late effort elevated the Jetstream Aston Martin to second ahead of Barwell’s other Huracan piloted by Sam De Haan.

“It is going to be dry tomorrow, so it is going to be tough, but we’re in the best starting position,” said Keen.

“Jon did a fantastic job in qualifying, and fortunately the track was getting drier and drier, so it was a case of whoever crossed the line last was going to be fastest. I’m pleased and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Optimum’s championship leader Flick Haigh and Beechdean AMR’s Andrew Howard also made the most of the improving conditions to jump up to fourth and fifth, respectively, ahead of another title protagonist, TF Sport’s Mark Farmer, and GT3 debutant Graham Johnson in the Balfe Motorsport McLaren.

Derek Johnston rounded out the top-eight in his final British GT outing before retirement.

Next up were the Pros and as conditions continued to improve so, inevitably, did the times.

Yelmer Buurman was out of the traps quickest of all en route to consecutive fastest laps, the latter of which helped the ERC Sport Mercedes-AMG he shares with Lee Mowle move from 10th to seventh in the final reckoning.

However, the Dutchman’s bubble was burst by Barwell’s Jonny Cocker and Keen who were the only drivers able to lap in the mid-to-low 1m39s bracket. Indeed, Keen’s fastest time of the session, a 1m39.292s, helped the #33 crew extend their overall pole margin to 1.609s.

Cocker’s time, which was just over a tenth slower, saw Barwell lock-out the front row ahead of Maxime Martin and his Jetstream co-driver Davidson, while AMR’s factory trio of Jonny Adam, Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen posted times within 0.062s of each other to claim fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.

Beechdean AMR slipped to eighth in the final reckoning, one place ahead of Team Parker Racing’s leading Bentley driven by Ian Loggie and Callum Macleod, and JMH Auto’s GTC-spec Ferrari which revelled in the tricky conditions. Indeed, Marcus Clutton’s personal best was just 2.8s slower than Keen.

GT3 Qualifying Results
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