Kiwis hit the sharp end

Tom Bewley and William Exton continued their impressive start in their one-off ADAC GT4 Germany weekend at the Nürburgring with another step towards the front of the 24 car field.

The pair ran two one-hour free practice sessions on Friday in their KCMG-run GR Supra GT4 EVO and the big news was the performance of both in simulated qualifying runs in the first of those sessions on Friday morning.

New tyres went onto the car and each got a simulated qualifying run of eight laps and both clocked times good enough for top four at that stage. Other teams opted for a similar practice run with lighter fuel, pushing Exton’s best lap into sixth.

Bewley’s best was just a couple of tenths behind after he encountered traffic on his run, again proving the team have a strong and matched pairing for the qualifying and racing that lies ahead.

“Yesterday we did all the hard work so it was nice today to start fine tuning the process and looking for outright speed,” said Exton. “We do think top five is possible in qualifying, hopefully we can put everything together and go one step further and put three good sectors together.

“For the second session we practiced pit stops every four or five laps or so in the old tyre run and that’s gone well too. We’re definitely optimistic for a strong run.”

“I learned a lot in the last session particularly on how to drive the car quickly while keeping the tyre strong for a lot longer, so the second session as a big step for me,” added Tom.

“I’m feeling good, I need to find a bit more of a rhythm in qualifying but I’m confident I’m going to be able to put a good lap together. Willy and I are working really well together on the driver changes too. Like Willy I think we have to aim for the top six, to be at the front and away from the traffic as much as anything else because it’s very busy out there.”

“The boys were strong again and both adapted well to the qualifying run, showing they could find impressive pace on the new tyres,” added TGRNZ Motorsport Manager Nicolas Caillol. “They were nice and consistent on the old tyres in the second session and quickly adapted to the driver change process, so it’s all looking good for the two big days of racing.”

Two 20 minute qualifying sessions will be followed by a one hour race on Saturday, with both Exton and Bewley getting a full qualifying run each before the race. The weather forecast remains favourable at the unpredictable track.