Jota Sport has lost its pole position for the opening race of GT World Challenge Europe’s return to Brands Hatch after Ben Barnicoat was penalised after the session for weaving.
GTWCE BRANDS HATCH: LIVESTREAM | QUALIFYING REPORT | BARNICOAT LOSES POLE | QUALIFYING REPORT | RACE 1 REPORT | RACE 2 REPORT | GALLERY
Barnicoat had stormed the first qualifying session, to set the grid for Race One, in the team’s McLaren 720S GT3 – the first of the season for the Jota crew – but was penalised after the session for ‘weaving on the approach to Turn 9 (Clark Curve)’.
He was given a two-place grid penalty for the race, after stewards decided that his weaving had impeded the qualifying laps of Madpanda Motorsport’s team boss Ezequiel Perez Companc, and Toksport WRT’s Juuso Puhakka.
Jota’s demotion to third means that AKKA ASP head into Sunday’s pair of 60-minute encounters with a clean sweep of pole positions, as Timur Boguslavskiy now lines up on the top spot, joined alongside by Charles Weerts in the #32 Team WRT Audi R8 LMS. His pole adds to the one gained by Raffaele Marciello in a thrilling Qualifying Two.
A link to the penalty can be found here.
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