Paradine Competition owner-driver Darren Leung is geared up for his team’s first season as a two-car operation in GT World Challenge Europe this year.
Following the transition to becoming fully independent from Century Motorsport – Leung’s original partner for his GT3 venture – he feels that expanding Paradine’s footprint in SRO’s premier European series is a “natural progression” for his young outfit.
In 2025, the team will run a BMW M4 GT3 EVO apiece in the Silver and Bronze categories for the full GT World Challenge Europe season, alongside Leung’s second FIA WEC LMGT3 campaign as a driver (with United Autosports, following a switch from WRT over the 2024 off-season).
It’s a significant step forward and a statement of intent from the 37-year-old British businessman, who has progressed from racing solo in Ginetta’s GT Academy to running his own team in SRO competition and competing solo in the FIA WEC in just four years.
By steadily investing in cars, kit and personnel over the past two seasons, Leung enabled his team to grow at a sensible rate and move seamlessly to becoming autonomous.
“I did one race with Century in 2022, which was fully with them. Then when I started looking at what I wanted my 2023 programme to be, it was clear that Century wouldn’t have the capacity or flexibility to accommodate what I needed to do for my third year of racing,” he told DSC.
“I wanted experience, I didn’t want to be at the back. So I ended up getting a lot of my own kit and crew, about 70 per cent and 30 per cent were from Century. That was the 2023 season, then in 2024, it was basically all of my own car, kit, and crew, and Nathan (Freke) came and helped us on some of the weekends.
“We stuck with Century’s entry to ensure there was continuity with SRO as the team has a good background with SRO, we wanted to ensure we got an entry as well as working with Nathan.”
By mid-season in 2024, Leung knew he wanted to run his team totally separately from Century Motorsport, with his own entrant licence.
“We wanted to ensure SRO was familiar with the Paradine name,” he continued. “So from the start of 2025, it’s fully us, there’s no affiliation now with Century other than we are mates.”
Why go to all the effort of starting a team from scratch in such a competitive and saturated market?
“The goal is twofold,” he said. “First of all, it’s part of a learning process. It can obviously go horrifically wrong, but if you do a good job you understand a lot more about how it all works beyond driving. Getting to grips with what is important for a race team gives me a complete understanding. I feel like it helps me help them.
“It also gives me more certainty as to what I am getting. If something doesn’t go right, I am empowered to do something about it. If I’m with another team, they have commercial incentives, whereas my own team is about my performance and where I want to go. I can make strategic decisions and if something goes wrong, I will know the real reason why.
“And then at some point maybe I will take a year off from racing myself, but the sport really interests me, so I may run a pro car and experience that side of it.”
Expectations are high for the upcoming season after Leung claimed the 2024 Bronze class drivers’ championship alongside Dan Harper in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup.
“What I am so proud of last year is that we showed we could turn out a pretty good race car compared to the other factory guys. I was surprised as I thought we’d be a good chunk off,” he added.
“We showed our potential with the car, and it was a real shame we had an engine issue in Jeddah, as we had a chance to win the overall Bronze title compared to Sprint and then Paradine would have had an entry to Le Mans, a team that’s run one car for two years.
“It’s actually really nice because the guys I started with were the guys I raced with in Ginettas. They were pretty new to it. I’ve spent a lot of time in my businesses assessing raw potential. So I picked individuals who are extremely motivated and have the potential to develop and pull together a strong programme.
“We’ve grown together as a team and that helps especially in difficult periods because they live and breathe one programme. It felt like we were all driving, or doing pit stops or doing all-nighters for each other, which makes for a powerful team dynamic.”
What’s next for Leung and his team? “I am a one-year-at-a-time guy,” he says.
“We are not looking at WEC or anything like that for now. The next step for us is to run the two cars in World Challenge this year. That feels like the natural progression.
“It’s my hobby, and I want to keep it like that, but want us to have the best chance to do a good job. Then we will see.”
Paradine Competition’s 2025 GT World Challenge Europe campaign begins with the six-hour race at Circuit Paul Ricard on 11–13 April.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
