Drivers and teams are set to battle at the prestigious Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit on 26-27 April for the British GT’s annual 500 event. The three-hour race has attracted another strong field. 33 cars are set to take part, with 21 in the headline GT3 category and a further dozen in GT4.
But who will show the speed and strategic nous required to conquer the 14th running of the Silverstone 500?
Here are the storylines to follow this weekend.
Barwell vs 2 Seas Motorsport
2 Seas Motorsport’s #42 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo2 duo of Charles Dawson and Keirn Jewiss put in a lights-to-flag performance at Donington, handing them an early championship lead and 30 kg of ballast for Round 2.
Barwell, meanwhile, came close with a second-place finish for its #78 Lamborghini. Jewiss was fortunate that GT4 lapped traffic provided an assist in his late battle with Lamborghini factory driver Sandy Mitchell.
Barwell fields a tweaked line-up in both cars, but remains one to watch as it pushes to secure its fifth outright Silverstone victory.
The team was without reigning champion Rob Collard at Donington, with Matt Topham playing the role of super-sub in the #1 Huracan. Collard, after recovering from his unforeseen medical procedure, is back on the grid here, and keen to get back up to speed after missing the Media Day and opening round.
The double British GT champion will push to improve his #1 co-driver Hugo Cook’s chances at the title and is keen to follow up his maiden Silverstone 500 win in 2020.
Patrick Kujala, meanwhile, is taking Mitchell’s place for Silverstone and will share the #78 with co-driver Alex Martin.
The 28-year-old is a regular face at Barwell, having driven its Lamborghini in GT World Challenge Europe throughout last year. He also tested with the team at the Media Day.
The other 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG duo – Kevin Tse and Maximilian Götz – who drive the #18, have a real shot at victory too, it seems. They took pole position last year, and (Götz) set the fastest lap in the race.
2023 champions pursuit of glory
2023 champions Darren Leung and Dan Harper are back and poised to fight at the sharp end again.
Leung, who currently competes in the FIA WEC’s LMGT3 class with United Autosports, is undoubtedly targeting a repeat of his 2023 Silverstone win with BMW works driver Harper. And there’s every chance they can deliver on that aim; the pair have great chemistry and talent by the boatload.
They will take the wheel of the #91 BMW M4 GT3 Evo entered by Leung’s own team, Paradine Competition.
GT3 Silver-Am hotly contested for the 500
In addition to its two GT4s, Century Motorsport enters GT3 Silver-Am with the #25 BMW driven by series debutant Jon Kearney and former GT4 class competitor Will Moore. It is one of seven entries in the category.
Blackthorn has entered a second Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo. Team owner Claude Bovet and former Porsche Carrera Cup GB driver Charles Bateman, who will co-pilot the #19 machine.
Matt Topham, who drove last year with Blackthorn, will contest the Silverstone 500 in a different car in light of Collard’s return. He is a two-time winner in the GT4 category and will race with Steller Motorsport in pursuit of his maiden GT3 win in Silver-Am. His recent Donington experience with Barwell will give him a boost of confidence here.
He joins GT3 class debutant Darren Burke with Steller Motorsport’s guest-entered #27 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO2.
For its first GT3 class appearance in five years, the Buckingham team has opted to give its Audi a run out, rather than the Corvette Z06 GT3.R it has entered into the GT World Challenge Europe season.
Spirit of Race was unable to participate in the Donington opener due to a clash for Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin with the European Le Mans Series’ 4 Hours of Barcelona.
Silverstone therefore marks the team (and duo’s) first British race of the season, and the first appearance of a Ferrari in the British GT Championship for five years. (Sky Tempesta’s aborted Silverstone entry aside, as the car was withdrawn after Free Practice last season)
It has also entered a second guest Ferrari 296 GT3 for Marcos Vivian and Francesco Castellacci. Vivian is a former Ferrari Challenge driver, whilst Castellacci is an established talent fresh from a top-five finish in last weekend’s FIA WEC 6 Hours of Imola in LMGT3.
Adding to the Prancing Horse’s attack is a #74 example from Kessel Racing for Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda.
Elsewhere in GT3 Silver-Am, we have the regulars in the form of #97 Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin co-drivers Andrew Howard and Tom Wood and Bridger Motorsport’s Honda NSX pair, Jonny Ip and Luke Garlick.
McLarens take on Mercedes-AMGs in GT3 Pro-Am
The McLaren GT3 EVO won both overall and in the GT3 Silver-Am category last year at Silverstone, in addition to the GT3 Pro-Am category. Neither winning driver crew is back this year to defend the victory, but the Woking brand’s chances of another standout result remain strong.
The #87 from Orange Racing by JMH, driven by Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton, could contest for victory. Clutton, along with Morgan Tillbrook, took fourth overall last year, third place in GT3 Pro-Am.
Optimum Motorsport’s #3 McLaren duo of Mike Price and Callum Macleod endured a challenging race last year, finishing 18th overall for Greystone GT.
The team’s other McLaren, the #77, puts Tillbrook with factory driver Marvin Kirchhöfer, making for another strong pairing.
Paddock Motorsport’s #8 McLaren of Mark Smith and former LMP1 racer Martin Plowman are seeking more after 11th position last year.
Greystone GT has a new driver crew this year with #24 McLaren, which sees Andrey Borodin partner up with an ex-ByKolles LMP1 driver Oliver Webb.
Meanwhile, father-son Team Abba Racing duo Richard and Sam Neary are searching for success in the Pro-Am grid for this year’s race with their Mercedes-AMG GT3, after taking pole in 2023.
Team Parker Racing and its #66 911 GT3.R for co-drivers Nick Jones and Porsche ace Sven Müller, may also be a force.
Giacomo Petrobelli had a hard time at Donington after tapping the #88 GT4 Pro-Am Mahiki Lotus Emira of Ian Duggan into the gravel, damaging his #7 Blackthorn Aston Martin in the process and hampering the car’s performance.
Silverstone offers a chance to get the season on track for himself and teammate Jonny Adam, who as ever, is looking to add to his win tally in the series.
Remarkably, only one of Adam’s 19 overall wins have come at Silverstone, and that was all the way back in 2011 with a DBRS9. Will his fortunes change this year?
Reigning GT4 champion targets back-to-back wins
The #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 pairing of Marc Warren and reigning Drivers’ champion Jack Brown got their campaign off to a flying start with a win from pole position at the opener. Will that form carry over to Silverstone, where Brown won the Silver class with Zak Meakin in 2024?
Optimum’s other McLaren – the #17 – ran into issues after the team locked out the front row in qualifying. Harry George and Luca Hopkinson left Donington disappointed, but hopeful that a turnaround in the second race of the year is possible.
Mahiki Racing finished third overall (first in GT4 Pro-Am) last year, and is looking to build on that this year with its trio of Lotus Emiras.
The new #84 Lotus car and driver pairing of Aiden Neate and Josh Miller impressed at Donington having extracted great pace and performance before falling back from the overall lead due to the additional pit stop time for Silver entries.
The GT4 Pro-Am #88 duo of Ian Duggan and Joe Wheeler are hoping not to hit trouble like the #69 duo of Steven Lake and Jack Mitchell did at Donington.
Jolt Racing continues its maiden season in the GT4 Endurance Cup with Rupert Williams and John Ingram co-piloting its #37 McLaren.
Century’s #71 duo of Rami Ramyead and Charlie Robertson suffered an unfortunate race last year – but kicked off the 2025 season with a GT4 podium.
Their #14 BMW teammates, Branden Templeton and Chris Sakeld, will be fighting as one of the three GT4s in the Silver class.
Team Parker Racing has two Mercedes-AMG GT4s, which showcased promising form by finishing third and fourth at Donington.
The #12 line-up of 2017 British GT champion Seb Morris and Ed McDermott exceeded expectations at the opener and are searching for another strong points haul for their Endurance Cup effort.
Phil Keen, along with Jon Currie, will race in GT4 with Team Parker’s sister #30 Mercedes-AMG.
Rob Boston Racing has continued using its #41 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS SC with co-drivers Jamie Orton and Will Burns (Endurance Cup).
That leaves the #50 Vantage GT4 Evo from MHK Racing’s co-owners, Stuart Hall and Peter Montague. It’s the only Aston Martin in the GT4 division, and the team is looking to bank key points for the Endurance Cup.
The British GT Silverstone 500 will commence at 15:30 local time on Sunday, 27 April and will be streamed via Sky Sports F1 and YouTube.
DSC’s coverage of the 2025 British GT Championship is powered by Birch – world-class automotive asset management at Gatwick.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP & Paul Foster
