Optimum Motorsport set the early pace in the opening Free Practice session of the British GT Championship weekend at Donington Park, with Morgan Tillbrook and Marvin Kirchhofer’s McLaren 720s GT3 Evo lapping the Grand Prix circuit in 1m25.107s.

The session proved to be very competitive, with the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghinis right on the heels of the McLaren as the #78 Huracan GT3 Evo2 of Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell finished less than half a tenth off the top time. Optimum Motorsport’s other McLaren GT3 was also within a tenth of the leading time in third, while the sister Barwell Huracan of Hugo Cook and Matt Topham was a further three tenths back in fourth place.

Team Parker Racing may be making its debut with it’s Porsche 911 GT3 R this weekend, but the pair of Nick Jones and Sven Muller looked on the pace right away, finishing fifth in the session with a time of 1m25.452s.

The British GT runners will return to the circuit for another practice period at 12.15 prior to a sequence of four split Qualifying sessions.

British GT Championship, Donington Park, Free Practice

1. Tillbrook/Kirchhofer, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, 1m25.107s
2. Martin/Mitchell, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, 1m25.157s, +0.050s
3. Price/Macleod, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, 1m25.199s, +0.092s
4. Topham/Cook, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, 1m25.448s, +0.341s
5. Jones/Muller, Team Parker Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1m25.452s, +0.345s
6. Petrobelli/Adam, Blackthorn, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, 1m25.508s, +0.401s
7. Orange/Clutton, Orange Racing by JMH, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, 1m25.546s, +0.439s
8. Dawson/Jewiss, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, 1m25.566s, +0.459s
9. Neary/Neary, Team ABBA Racing, Mercede-AMG GT3 Evo, 1m25.585s, +0.478s
10. Tse/Gotz, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, 1m25.706s, +0.599s

Click here for full results.