Kinch and Kirkaldy on Pole for Both British GT Races at Castle Combe

25 June 2005

Nathan Kinch topped the timing sheets in the first qualifying of the British GT Championship at Castle Combe. The Scuderia Ecosse driver set a time of 1:06.122 in the nr 35 Ferrari 360 Modena. Team LNT finished in second and third position. "It's fantastic to be on pole," Kinch commented afterwards. "Here at Castle Combe it's important to be at the front, because it can be tricky to pass some of the back markers. At the moment we are concentrating on the Championship and hoping for two wins here this weekend."

Andrew Thompson came second in the nr 42 TVR T400R just 0.125 seconds behind Kinch. Patrick Pearce set the third quickest time in the sister nr 43 car.

Phil Keen in the nr 69 Eclipse Motorsport - Mosler MT900R, Mike Jordan in the nr 77 Eurotech Porsche 911 GT3-RSR, and David Jones in the nr 22 Eurotech Porsche 911 GT3-RSR completed the top six.

Driving the Team Tiger Marcos Mantis, Chris Beighton set the fastest time in the GT3 category with a lap of 1:08.896. The nr 15 Damax Ferrari 360 of Marco Attard was second fastest with a time of 1:09.160, followed by the no 99 Eurotech Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of Mark Sumpter.

GT3 Championship leader, Dimitris Deverikos, came fourth in the Tech 9 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, followed by Miles Hulford in the no 16 Damax Ferrari 360 and Fred Moss in the no 20 Trackspeed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

The second qualifying, for Sunday's Brtish GT Race Two at Castle Combe showed the clear dominance of the Scuderia Ferrari team. Andrew Kirkaldy was able to go faster than his team-mate in the first qualifying by nearly two seconds. Kirkaldy, in the no 35 Ferrari 360 Modena, claimed pole with a time of 1:04.636. The nr 34 sister Ferrari of Tim Mullen was more than 0.4 seconds behind Kirkaldy, setting the second fastest time of 1:05.104. Ben Collins qualified third in the nr 55 Embassy Porsche with a lap time of 1:06.065.

Warren Hughes qualified fourth in the nr 43 LNT TVR T400R, followed by Michael Caine in the nr 77 Eurotech Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and Steve Hyde in the nr 69 Eclipse Motorsport Mosler MT900R.

After missing the round at Thruxton a couple of weeks ago, the nr 21 United Christian Broadcasters Ferrari 360 of Allan Simonson was fastest in the GT3 category. "It feels really good being on pole position," Simonson said later. "We now hope the car will last the distance. We had lots of electrical problems in the past when we were leading the race and had to pull out, which was very disappointing. I am still not 100% confident that the problem is sorted out as we haven't had any time for testing. But let's hope for the best."

The Danish driver set a time of 1:08.203, followed by the nr 15 Damax Ferrari 360 of Nick Adams. Jon Finnemore came third in the nr 81 Marcos Mantis of Team Tiger with a time of 1:08.559.
The top six were completed by Piers Masarati (nr 9 Tech 9 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup), Jamie Smyth (nr 16 Damax Ferrari 360), and Steven Wood in the nr 99 Team Eurotech Porsche 911 GT3Cup.

SRO

See 2005 series calendar for British GT Championship

Related Story 30.05.2005 - British GT Win Number Two for Kinch and Kirkaldy at Thruxton