Oulton Park Qualifying: Pole for Balfe & Ram Racing for Oulton opener

The first qualifying session of the season provided all the excitement that you would expect with the ‘Guide to 2022’ ripped up and the drivers who many thought would be fighting at the front starting the opening race of the weekend at the near back of the class.

In the opening GT3 session, Shaun Balfe continued his rapid pace throughout the day to take the first pole position of the season in his #22 Balfe Motorsport ahead of Richard Neary in the #8 Team Abba Racing.

Morgan Tillbrook qualified third in his #77 Enduro Motorsport McLaren, 0.059 seconds ahead of the fourth-placed #2 Team Rocket RJN.

 

The second GT3 session saw the lap record smashed by Jules Gounon, in his #6 Ram Racing, 0.415s ahead of Adam Carroll in his #22 Balfe Motorsport entry.

Sandy Mitchell qualified third in his #72 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini, 0.176s ahead of the #76 7TSIX driven by Euan Hankey.

 

The GT4 class was very close, with Richard Williams setting the fastest time in his #42 Steller Motorsport Audi R8. With the decision to race this weekend being very late for the team, it was an incredible effort to put the car on pole.

Joining Williams on the front row for Race One is Benji Hetherington in his #51 Valluga Racing Porsche, with Jamie Orton lining up in third in his #65 Team Parker Racing Porsche.

 

The second GT4 qualifying session saw yet another lap record broken, with Darren Turner going fastest in his #27 Newbridge Motorsport Aston Martin. He was 0.046s ahead of Sennan Fielding who will line up second in his #42 Steller Motorsport Audi.

Starting on the second row of the grid is the #90 Century Motorsport BMW of Will Burns and the #48 Toyota Gazoo Racing UK Supra of Jack Mitchell.

 

Race One gets underway at 11:20, with Race Two beginning at 16:10.

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