Championship leaders racing with ballast
The #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo duo of Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss secured victory from pole position at the Donington Park season-opener.
By winning and subsequently taking the championship lead, Dawson and Jewiss will race with an additional 30 kg ballast aboard their Mercedes-AMG here at Silverstone.
The 500 is a three-hour race and, unlike any other round, features three mandated pit stops for each car, adding to the strategic challenge.
Jewiss told DSC: “We’ve had one good weekend. Unfortunately, it penalised us with that, with 30 kilos in the car, which costs us a lot of time.
“The Media Day (held at Silverstone) was ok [but] now it’s [now] very different.
“The track was very dirty [in Friday testing], I think there’s been a lot of GB3 running and a lot of other cars.
“With dirty air, it’s very, very difficult to follow in the high-speed stuff – the loss of the downforce in the front, so of course it’s important, but three hours is a long time.
“A lot can happen; it’s important to stay at the sharp end.”
Leung and Harper return with updated Evo
The 2023 British GT champions have returned in search of victory at British GT’s most prestigious race on the calendar.
Leung is seeking redemption after a refuelling issue last year prevented him and BMW Hypercar driver Dries Vanthoor from taking the win.
Paradine Competition, Leung’s team, are fielding the #91 BMW M4 GT3 Evo this year.
Leung took the new-for-2025 Evo’s maiden racing victory at this year’s Dubai 24 Hours, both overall and in the GT3 Silver-Am category, with co-drivers Al Faisal Al Zubair, his 2023 British GT champion teammate Dan Harper, Max Hesse and Ben Tuck.
Harper, meanwhile, is currently racing with the Evo in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Paul Miller Racing as part of its GTD Pro effort.
The pairing duo are keen to score the Evo its first victory in the UK this afternoon too.
Collard aims for second Silverstone 500 win
Reigning British GT champion Rob Collard is back in the paddock this weekend for the first time since his unforeseen medical procedure, which forced him to sit out the Media Day and opening race at Donington.
Collard is looking to join Sandy Mitchell in becoming a two-time Silverstone 500 winner, but has realistic expectations after his extended off-season.
“It’s five-six months of not being in the car, so it’s a big task to come back at a race weekend and just jump in, so I’m up against it this weekend, but you know, absolutely delighted to be in the car,” he said.
“We managed to get a few laps last week in the car, and then what we did yesterday (testing).
“It’s like putting on a favourite pair of gloves, you’re just back into the rhythm… My biggest thing [to consider] for the weekend is just the endurance part of it.
“The aim is to try and win the Silverstone 500 again. We were very unlucky last year. We were in the lead by 15 seconds, there was a safety car, so it was a shame we didn’t win it last year with Ricky (his son).
“But I’m going to do my utmost this weekend to try and win it with Hugo [Cook].
“It’s my first race with Hugo, and it’ll make a fantastic story if we can win or at least get on the podium.”
Patrick Kujala is taking Sandy Mitchell’s place at this race meeting, even though both drivers are present.
Kujala has plenty of experience competing with Barwell Motorsport, having driven for the team since 2016.
He is relishing his return to British GT for the first time in five years and is ready to fight for the #78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2’s first win of the season.
Kujala explained the importance of qualifying for the three-hour race, where they will start on the second row on the grid.
“From a driver’s point of view, qualifying is very important, but in a three-hour race, there are a lot of things that can happen, so that’s why maybe they [drivers might] say that qualifying is not important,” he said.
“If it doesn’t go well, it’s not the end of the world. I do remember from 2020 when I drove with Mercedes, that how you manage the GT4 traffic makes a huge difference [in the race].
“So I’m used to that, and I know which GT4s are okay and which ones you need to take care of a little bit more.
“And as long as you know those, then it should be okay.”
Silver-Am boosted
The GT3 Silver-Am category has grown significantly for the 500, with the full-season entries from Beechdean and Bridger joined by an additional five cars.
This includes the #28 and #74 Ferraris from Spirit of Race and Kessel, in addition to Blackthorn’s second #19 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, Century Motorsport’s #25 BMW and Steller Motorsport’s #27 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO2.
In amongst that group, Century Motorsport’s return to GT3 is a welcome sight as part of its 30th anniversary season.
Meanwhile, Matt Topham, who replaced Rob Collard at the Donington Park opener, has switched from one naturally aspirated V10 car to another, from Barwell’s Lamborghini to Steller’s Audi.
Beechdean Motorsport began its 15th consecutive British GT campaign on a high with a Silver-Am victory against the brand new Bridger Motorsport-Honda NSX programme.
Tom Wood, who co-drives the #97 Aston Martin with Andrew Howard, welcomed the competition.
“I think it’s great that British GT has managed to up the numbers on our grids,” he said.
“The first round was great, having two cars, but more competition is always good for us.
“So yeah, we’re up for the fight this weekend.
“There’s a really strong grid overall, not just in Silver Ams, so I’m looking forward to it.
“Anything can happen in this race… but obviously we want to be at the front, we want to be out of trouble, and then we just want a strong race.”
Team Parker’s 992 back to where it all began
The 992 model of the Porsche 911 GT3.R debuted in British GT at the 2023 running of the Silverstone 500 with Team Parker Racing, and now, in 2025, the car has returned to the Northampton circuit as part of its maiden full-season British GT campaign.
Team Parker’s #66 Porsche is co-driven by Nick Jones, who drove in the 992’s 2023 Silverstone debut, and Sven Müller.
Jones was involved in an incident which led to an early retirement at Donington. He and the team around him are hoping for a change in fortunes today.
Porsche or Mercedes-AMG? Decision time beckons for Rob Boston
Porsche is also represented in the GT4 category this weekend as Rob Boston Racing has continued running the #41 Porsche Cayman it campaigned at Donington, after a late switch from Mercedes-AMG ahead of the opener.
The Mercedes-AMG GT4 that the team utilised at the Media Day required attention. The car’s fuel tank was approaching its expiry date ahead of the first meeting, so the team decided to race a Porsche instead.
Driver Jamie Orton told DSC that the Porsche is leased from Team Parker Racing and that an internal decision will be made by Tuesday whether it will continue using the Cayman or revert back to the Mercedes-AMG for the remainder of the season.
The team’s performance at the Silverstone 500 will be factored into the decision.
Macleod fastest in morning Warm-Up
Callum Macleod’s #3 Optimum Motorsport McLaren GT3 EVO2 was fastest in the 15-minute warm-up session after setting a 1:58.095 lap time.
Mercedes-AMG factory driver Maximilian Götz put the #18 2 Seas Motorsport’s GT3 Evo 2 in second with a 1:58.720.
Sven Müller took third in Team Parker Racing’s #66 Porsche 911 GT3.R after his 1:58.733, putting him faster than Jewiss’ #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG (1:59.191).
Marcus Clutton rounded out the top five in the #67 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren after he set a 1:59.197.
In GT4, Jack Mitchell was fastest in the #69 Lotus Emira GT4 with a 2:09.359 lap time ahead of the #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 driver, Marc Warren, and his 2:10.480.
MKH Racing’s Stuart Hall put the #50 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo in third with his 2:11.110 time.
Optimum’s other #17 McLaren took fourth owing to Harry George’s 2:11.246 as #30 Team Parker Mercedes-AMG GT4 driver Phil Keen rounded out the top five (2:11.305).
Video preview
Check out the video below, as Tom Hornsby takes a trip down pit lane to preview today’s race:
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