The Team RJN McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Joshua Caygill and Alex Buncombe will start tomorrow’s British GT Championship title decider from pole position after topping the combined times in the split-format qualifying sessions this afternoon.

Caygill was first up in the initial 10-minute period for AM drivers, lapping the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit just 12 thousandths of a second faster than Morgan Tillbrook to carry an initial advantage into the second part of qualifying. From there, Buncombe wasn’t quite fastest overall, but the margin carried over was enough to put the McLaren first on the grid.

Another of the British marque’s GT3 cars will join the RJN machine on the front row for tomorrow’s rolling start, with Marcus Clutton following up co-driver Tillbrook’s effort to secure second on joint pace.

Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell will be the best placed of the main title contenders when the lights go out on tomorrow’s two-hour race after the latter set the fastest time of qualifying in the PRO segment of qualifying. The Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini was just sixth after Martin’s turn, but Mitchell’s time of 1m22.196s was strong enough to lift the duo to third in the final order.

The top-five was completed by the 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG of Kevin Tse and Maximilian Goetz, just ahead of Mark Radcliffe and Tom Gamble in the Optimum Motorsport McLaren.

The next of the main contenders for the overall prize was the second Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini of father and son Rob and Ricky Collard. They wound up sixth after the aggregate times were put together, just ahead of fellow father-son combo Richard and Sam Neary.

There was drama for outside title bets Shaun Balfe and Adam Smalley, after their McLaren ground to a halt in the former’s hands early in the first part of qualifying. The duo will now start from the back of the GT3 field, requiring a major turn of events to claim the title.

In the GT4 class, it was Jack Brown and Zac Meakin who enjoyed the most positive session, topping the timesheets ahead of their attempt at the title tomorrow. Freddie Tomlinson and Aston Millar will start second with the standings leaders Jamie Day and Mikey Porter lining up third.

British GT Championship, GT3 Combined Qualifying, Brands Hatch

1. Caygill/ Buncombe, Team RJN, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
2. Tillbrook/Clutton, Garage 59, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
3. Martin/Mitchell, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2
4. Tse/Goetz, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
5. Radcliffe/Gamble, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
6. Collard/Collard, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2

British GT Championship, GT4 Combined Qualifying, Brands Hatch

1. Brown/Meakin, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren Artura GT4, 2m59.728s
2. Tomlinson/Millar, DTO Motorsport, Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo
3. Day/Porter, Forsetti Motorsport, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo
4. Davies/Sanjay, RACE LAB, McLaren Artura GT4
5. Dawson/Morris, Team Parker Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT4
6. George/Hopkinson, RAM Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT4

Click here for full timings and results from this event.