Ferrari to the fore as Dhillon tops Snetterton qualifying
3rd July 2018
- Ferrari driver secures pole but car woes might sideline him for race.
- Downing on track to complete a perfect weekend in Mosler.
- Tom Webb matches brother James with GTA pole.
John Dhillon took the fight to the front-running cars as he planted his Ferrari 488 Challenge on pole position in Group GTC for the weekend’s endurance race at Snetterton. The Spirit of Race man was a winner in his Group the previous day, and an early qualifying blast gave himself and Aaron Scott the advantage ahead of the similar Ferrari of Paul Bailey and Phil Glew.
Gareth Downing continued his excellent form at Snetterton by adding a second pole position of the weekend both overall and in the GTO Group. The Mosler driver won both sprint races the previous day and is lining up a potential hat-trick for the National Motorsport Academy squad.
“I only did one lap because of the heat, so I thought I’d be careful to keep the temperatures of the car all good for the race,” said Downing. “I’m fairly confident for the race. We’ve had a good car all weekend so it’s a testament to the team’s performance.”
Another to taste success in the sprint races was James Webb, and his BMW will start on pole position in the GTA Group in the hands of brother Tom Webb after a tight battle with the Top Cats Racing Ginetta G55.
“It was touch and go as to whether we’d make it out there, but we worked very hard to get it sorted,” said Tom Webb. “A big thanks to GTS Motorsport for their work to get it ready. It’s a little bit slippery out there as we’re using older tyres from Donington, but it came pretty good in the end. It’s been a while since I’ve been out in this car but it feels like home – it’s a great car to drive. I might be a bit sweaty by the end of it in these temperatures, but I’ll give it a good go!”
Group GTH was another tight battle, won by the Aston Martin GT4 of Whitebridge Motorsport and drivers Adam Hatfield and Chris Murphy. “That’s probably the best qualifying session I’ve had all season if I’m being honest,” said Hatfield. I got out there, got some heat in the tyres and cracked on from there to get the time in just two flying laps. I hope it’s a close race once again. The car is on point, so it’s a 50-minute endurance race to get through and we’ll see where we are.”
Warren Gilbert continued his strong form in the Marcos Mantis, topping the GTB Group. “It was pretty much the same as yesterday so we put some new tyres on it to see how it would feel. It’s all good and feels fine so far – it’s going to be a very hard race in this heat on my own!”
Qualifying results:
Group GTO
1 – Gareth Downing – National Motorsport Academy (Mosler MT900)
2 – Nigel Hudson – HUD Motorsport / JMH Automotive (Aston Martin Vantage GT3)
Group GTC
1 – John Dhillon – Spirit of Race (Ferrari 488 Challenge)
2 – Paul Bailey – Horse Power Racing / SB Race Engineering (Ferrari 488 Challenge)
Group GTB
1 – Warren Gilbert – Top Cats Racing (Marcos Mantis)
Group GTA
1 – Tom Webb/James Webb – Team Webb (BMW M3 GTR)
2 – James Reveler/Gary Smith – Top Cats Racing (Ginetta G55)
Group GTH
1 – Chris Murphy/Adam Hatfield – Whitebridge Motorsport (Aston Martin GT4)
2 – David Holloway – Century Motorsport (Ginetta G55)
3 – Steve Ruston/John Whitehouse – JMH Automotive (Ginetta G55)
