Optimum Motorsport’s Ben Barnicoat and Morgan Tillbrook topped the timesheets in Free Practice for the British GT Championship at Snetterton. Their effort of a 1m46.582s was just under a tenth clear of the Barwell Motorsport entry of Rob Collard and Hugo Cook.

The top six were separated by fewer than three tenths after the chequered flag, with Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton rounding out the top three for Orange Racing by JMH.

The championship-leading duo of Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski managed fourth in their Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo for Barwell Motorsport, pipping Steven Lake and Dave Macdonald in the second of the Orange Racing by JMH entries by 0.024s.

Perennial Snetterton winner Kevin Tse followed in sixth place for 2 Seas Motorsport in his entry shared with Ben Green. Having tasted victory at the Norfolk venue in each of the past two seasons, he’ll be eyeing a third this weekend.

Marc Warren and Jack Brown were the last of the drivers to register a time in the 1m46s region in their Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720s GT3 Evo. Jonathon Beeson and Charles Clark managed eighth for Century Motorsport in the only BMW M4 GT3 Evo competing this season.

Mark Smith and Martin Plowman for Paddock Motorsport and Cameron Campbell and Joshua Buchan for Rodin Motorsport rounded out the top-10, with the pack separated by fine margins from top to bottom.

Josh Stanton and George Gamble, the latter of whom is returning to the British GT Championship for the first time in nine years, led the GT4 class with a time of 1m56.127s. Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins were second in class, just over three tenths adrift of top spot.

British GT Championship, Free Practice, Snetterton

1. Barnicoat/Tillbrook, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, 1m46.582s

2. Collard/Cook, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, 1m46.665s

3. Orange/Clutton, Orange Racing by JMH, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, 1m46.700s

4. Waberski/Martin, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, 1m46.730s

5. Lake/Macdonald, Orange Racing by JMH, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, 1m46.754s

6. Green/Tse, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, 1m46.861s

7. Warren/Brown, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, 1m46.950s

8. Beeson/Clark, Century Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3 Evo, 1m47.027s

9. Smith/Plowman, Paddock Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, 1m47.052s

10. Campbell/Buchan, Rodin Motorsport, Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, 1m47.256s

Click here for full times and results from this event.