Richardson Racing’s James Taylor takes pole at Brands

James Taylor took pole for the opening Ginetta Junior race of the season in a red flag disrupted qualifying.

Damp conditions at Brands Hatch meant many drivers struggled to find grip. Early on, a number of drivers span at Paddock Hill Bend, with Ben Kasperczak becoming stuck in the gravel and bringing out the first red flag of the session.

Kasperczak was able to get back out when action resumed but, just three minutes later, the session was stopped again as Daniel Gale ran off at Paddock Hill Bend in an almost identical incident.

Taylor was already top of the times after the early laps, ahead of James Hedley and Gus Burton.

Douglas O’Sullivan jumped up to the top of the order once the track turned green again, a 1m05.060s lap around the Indy circuit putting him clear of Taylor. But the Richardson Racing driver soon bounced back, becoming the first driver to set a time quicker than 1m05s.

Lorcan Hanafin jumped up to second with his final lap of the session, but it was still 0.8s slower than Taylor.

O’Sullivan finished third, but his second fastest lap time puts him on pole for the second race of the weekend, with Hanafin starting alongside him.

Ethan Hawkey and Burton finished fourth and fifth.

Late improvements from other drivers dropped Hedley to sixth, ahead of Casper Stevenson and Will Martin, who starts third in race two.

Harry Dyson and Theo Edgerton rounded out the top 10.

The first race of the season is scheduled to take place at 17.05 this evening, though the two red flags mean the meeting is currently behind schedule.

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