page_title: 2010 RAC Tourist Trophy
section_title: Qualifying race
hierarchical_section_title: 2010 RAC Tourist Trophy / Races / Qualifying race
caption_attribution_description: FIA GT1 Qualifying Race - Aston, Chevrolet, Maserati, Ford, Nissan and Lamborghini prepare to fight it out.
context_page_description: The 2010 RAC Tourist Trophy was an auto race held at the Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, Great Britain from 30 April–2 May. The event, the second round of the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship season, was among the first to use the revised 5.900 km Arena layout of the Silverstone Circuit that was completed in early 2010. The GT1 series was part of the larger Silverstone Supercar 2010 event, sharing the weekend with the FIA GT3 European Championship, GT4 European Cup, and the British Formula 3 Championship. The Championship race also served to award an annual champion for RAC Tourist Trophy, awarded by the Royal Automobile Club.
  The British manufacturer Aston Martin dominated much of the early event, winning pole position in Qualifying with Darren Turner and Tomáš Enge's Young Driver AMR entry before Hexis AMR swept the top two spots in the Qualifying Race, led by drivers Frédéric Makowiecki and Thomas Accary. Turner and Enge would then go on to win the Championship Race, but were later excluded from the race when their Aston Martin failed technical inspections.
context_section_description: From the rolling start, the pole sitting No. 7 Young Driver Aston Martin of Tomáš Enge led the field as they battled into the first corner, jumping out ahead of the No 9 Hexis Aston Martin and No. 1 Vitaphone Maserati.  Further down the field the No. 33 Hegersport Maserati spun in the middle of the first turn after hitting one of the Reiter Lamborghinis, which then made contact with the No. 8 Young Driver Aston Martin.  The Aston Martin's left rear tyre was cut down by the contact and Christoffer Nygaard was forced to make an early pit stop for a new tyre.  The Hegersport Maserati meanwhile, although briefly continuing, was forced to enter the team's garage several laps later with engine problems.  On the tenth lap of the race, Abu Dhabi race winner Thomas Mutsch spun the No. 5 Matech Ford into a gravel trap outside Maggotts corner while defending 13th place.  The Ford would lose a lap while being extracted and returning to the race.
  By the time the pit window opened in the 25th minute, Enge led the field by over two seconds.  Darren Turner was able to take over the No. 7 Aston Martin during the team's pit stop and retained the race lead but minutes later officials announced drive-thru penalties for the No. 7, No. 23 Sumo Power Nissan, and No. 34 Hegersport Maserati for all cutting the pit lane entry.  All three returned to the pits to serve their penalty on the next lap, but while entering the pits Turner cut the entry and earned a stop-and-go penalty.  After the two penalties the Young Driver Aston Martin had fallen to seventh, with the No 9 Hexis Aston Martin now leading.  During pit stop window the No. 10 Hexis Aston Martin managed to take over second after the No. 1 Vitaphone Maserati stalled in the pits.
  During the closing ten minutes of the race the two Swiss Nissans were attempting to catch the No. 37 Münnich Lamborghini for fourteenth place, but collided with one another in the Vale corner and spun Karl Wendlinger in the No. 3 car.  Meanwhile, at the front of the field Darren Turner had begun to reclaim lost positions by passing the No. 23 Sumo Power Nissan for sixth place, then the No. 14 Phoenix Corvette for fifth.  Turner would eventually claim the fourth position in the final two laps but would miss out on a podium finish for the race end.  Hexis driver Frédéric Makowiecki led the field across the line for the race win, ahead of his teammate Clivio Piccione in second place, with the No. 1 Vitaphone Maserati in third.
caption: The start of the Qualifying Race
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