2023 British GT champion Dan Harper scored his second career Silverstone 500 victory this afternoon, after an intense showdown with championship-leader Kiern Jewiss’ #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG.
Harper’s drive made it a perfect Sunday for himself and Paradine Competition teammate Darren Leung, who scored the BMW M4 GT3 Evo’s maiden victory in the United Kingdom in fine style.
“Dan had to hold it all together at the end, so it wasn’t completely plain sailing, and Kiern looked really fast out there,” Leung, whose Paradine team was a race-by-race entrant for the 500, said.
Harper added: “It was a bit scary at the end with the Mercedes of Kiern coming back.
“… I knew I know how good he is. I was teammates with him in Ginettas, and I knew for sure if he got close enough, he’d have a go [at taking the lead].
“So yeah, I was glad to be able to hold him off, and it’s just a class performance from the team, and I’m so happy.
“We’d love to come back [to British GT].”
Harper managed to secure the victory despite being forced to serve a 1-second stop-and-go penalty for running short of their driver stint reset.
The gap between the #91 BMW and the #42 Mercedes-AMG came down to just 0.580 seconds after Jewiss closed the gap in the final run to the flag.
There were three full-course yellows (FCY) and thus three safety car disruptions throughout the three-hour event, with an extensive 63 minutes between the end of the third FCY to the checkered flag.
2 Seas Motorsport’s #42 Mercedes-AMG, which carried an additional 30 kg ballast, headed into the final 30 minutes with a commanding lead of 20 seconds on the #91 BMW, albeit owing another pit stop.
Jewiss, however, was handed a drive-through penalty for overtaking under yellow flag conditions just as the third FCY was declared.
After serving the penalty and losing 24 seconds, Jewiss emerged from the pit lane exit in sight of Harper’s #91 BMW, trailing by 2.575 seconds.
Gradually, Jewiss reeled in Harper, but ran out of time and was forced to settle for second.
With the Paradine BMW not earning points as a guest entry, the current championship leaders in the 2 Seas Motorsport’s #42 Mercedes-AMG extended their championship lead with a maximum haul of 37.5 points.
Pole-sitter Optimum Motorsport and its #77 McLaren GT3 EVO claimed third place as factory driver Marvin Kirchhöfer, who showed pace throughout practice, qualifying and the race and claimed third, 8.2 seconds adrift from the winning M4.
Kirchhöfer’s co-driver, Morgan Tillbrook, also played his part, extending his race lead at the start on the #18 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG of Kevin Tse before falling back during the race’s disruptions.
Four-time British GT champion Jonny Adam came home in fourth position in the #7 Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo.
Following their tricky start to the season at Donington, they enjoyed a considerably better performance today, with Adam’s co-driver Giacomo Petrobelli, utilising great form during his opening stint at the race start.
Petrobelli made an early climb to third overall from #78 Barwell Lamborghini driver Alex Martin at Club Corner, which was halted when he made light contact with Nick Jones’ #66 Team Parker Porsche 911 GT3.R.
Marcus Clutton and his co-driver Simon Orange took home P5 for the #67 Orange by JMH McLaren, crossing the line just 1.233 seconds ahead of the #1 Barwell Lamborghini of Hugo Cook that took sixth.
Cook’s #1 teammate, Rob Collard, showcased the fastest race lap times during his opening stint at the start from eighth on the grid, when he was forced to scrap with multiple drivers in the midfield.
That stint included an opportunistic move for fifth on Darren Leung during the top class’ first run through the GT4 field.
Collard also overtook Alex Martin in the sister #78 Huracan for fourth 40 minutes into the race, just after Petrobelli performed his calculated overtake.
Paddock Motorsport’s Martin Plowman took home P7 after his teammate Mark Smith started 10th on the grid in the #8 McLaren.
The #78 Barwell Lamborghini duo of Alex Martin and Patrick Kujala took eighth after the team was dealt two significant penalties, one for being 1.2 seconds short during a pit stop and a second due to a pit stop infringement related to the placement of its tyres on pit lane.
Steller Motorsport meanwhile, claimed an impressive GT3 Silver-Am win in its guest appearance with its #27 Audi en route to ninth with Darren Burke and Matt Topham.
Fellow Silver-Am rival Bridger Motorsport (#86 Honda NSX GT3 Evo2) only fell out of earning a class third position when Luke Garlick served a drive-through for exceeding track limits in the final hour.
The #8 Abba Racing Mercedes-AMG rounded out the top-10, having endured a tough start to the race when Sam Neary lost 13 places and later hit the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 296 GT3 of Matt Griffin into the gravel trap at Club Corner – an incident which caused the second of the FCYs.
Griffin ran in a strong fifth place before his #55 Ferrari was recovered and then encountered various electronic issues, before being retired.
The GT3 category had three retirements in total. Beyond the #55 Ferrari, the #3 Optimum and #24 Greystone McLarens also didn’t make the finish. The #3 ground to a halt, and the #24 suffered radiator damage.
Century adds to BMW’s big day in GT4
BMW also won in GT4 with Century Motorsport. The team’s #71 M4 GT4 Evo of co-drivers Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson completed 73 laps en route to the flag, claiming a dominant victory.
“The last few laps, I felt a bit of vibration from the rear,” Robertson admitted post-race. “I don’t know if it was a tyre pick-up or there was something wrong with the back of the car.
“So I just made the decision to just absolutely take no risk because I didn’t want to… I could see myself barrelling into Maggots and Becketts and something happening. I just thought, the last two laps, just get the thing home.
“We’ve had a nice cushion (lead gap). We worked so hard to get that strategy right, and it paid off, so I’m buzzing.”
Ramyead added: “We came in here because this is really the one you want to win, isn’t it?
“This inspired me … You just get your head down, you work hard and stay out of trouble, and you get great results. I’m really happy.”
The winners finished over a lap ahead of Optimum Motorsport’s #90 McLaren Artura of Jack Brown and Marc Warren, who now share a joint championship lead with the #71 BMW crew (64.5 points) after winning at Donington Park and taking second today.
Chris Salkeld and Branden Templeton finished third in the other Century Motorsport BMW, the #14, and claimed the Silver Cup honours, coming home just under 40 seconds behind the #90 McLaren.
The battle for the GT4 Silver win was hard fought and came down to just 1.420 seconds after a late push from the #17 Optimum McLaren of Luca Hopkinson. Hopkinson was unable to make a move, though, and finished fourth in the GT4 field with his teammate Simon George. It was the only real duel to follow in GT4 during the final hour of the race as the field gradually spread out.
Rob Boston Racing secured fifth. Its Porsche Cayman of Will Burns and Jamie Orton was the first car competing in the new-for-2025 GT4 Endurance Cup across the line. This success will factor into the team’s impending decision on chassis for the remainder of the season.
In sixth overall and second in the Endurance Cup was the Team Parker #12 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of reigning GT4 Pro-Am and 2017 GT3 champion Seb Morris. The pair maintained strong form amidst the three major full-course yellows turned safety-car disruptions.
Unfortunately for the pole-sitting Mahiki Racing team, it was another challenging day. It suffered a double DNF, with its #84 and the #69 Lotus Emira GT4s the only two cars in the class to retire.
Aiden Neate in the pole-sitting #84 Emira GT4 faced disaster while leading on Lap 40 when his Lotus suffered a left-rear toe-link failure, causing the wheel to detach dramatically at the exit of Farm Corner.
Neate was on his in-lap for an owed pit stop before the failure caused him to spin into the gravel trap on driver’s right, allowing the #71 BMW crew to take the lead. The car was an on-the-spot retirement.
Prior to the #84’s incident, and as the first full-course-yellow transitioned to a safety-car period, Steven Lake in the #69 Lotus also suffered an issue, this one on the pit entry when his wheels locked up, freezing the car.
The team’s only surviving #88 Lotus secured seventh in the hands of Joe Wheeler and his teammate Ian Duggan. Amid Mahiki’s tough Sunday was a better weekend for the pair after they retired from the race at Donington Park when Duggan was tapped into a gravel trap by #7 Blackthorn Aston Martin.
Team Parker’s #30 Mercedes-AMG of Phil Keen took eighth with his teammate Jon Currie ahead of ninth-placed finishers, the #50 MKH Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo pairing of Stuart Hall and Peter Montague.
Jolt Racing’s #37 McLaren Artura GT4 duo, Jonathan Ingram and Rupert Williams, rounded out the 10 finishing GT4 competitors with the #69 and #84 Mahiki Lotus entrants as the sole GT4 retirements.
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Images courtesy of JEP/SRO
