Darren Leung and BMW factory driver Dan Harper are aiming to become the first drivers to win the Silverstone 500 for a third time this weekend, as part of Paradine Competition’s expanded two-car GT3 entry, made in a bid to defend its crown.
By winning last year’s edition, the 2023 British GT champions matched Lamborghini factory driver Sandy Mitchell’s two-win tally with Barwell Motorsport at the prestigious blue riband event. And it goes without saying that Leung and Harper are extremely motivated to add to their success, get that third win and a second back-to-back, after winning the 2023 race with Century Motorsport then last year’s with Leung’s Paradine team.
Leung believes his outfit has a realistic shot at victory with both its #91 and #6 cars this time, though, as the latter pairs 2022 British GT champion Ian Loggie with one of the championship’s most successful drivers, Phil Keen.
As the 2026 British GT calendar’s only three-hour race (with Spa shifted to a 120-minute contest), the 500 offers teams the chance to play with strategy, something that Paradine feels plays into its hands, especially as it now has two cars at its disposal, matching full-season teams 2 Seas, Barwell, Optimum Motorsport and Mahiki Racing.
Leung is particularly excited about the sister car, as it sees Loggie welcomed into the fold. Leung has real admiration for the 63-year-old British GT veteran, who lent a helping hand to him when he made his maiden British GT appearance four years ago.
“I’ve got a lot of time and respect for Ian,” he explains. “When I first came to GT3 in 2022, he was one of the guys on the grid who went out of his way to give me a few ins and outs that really helped me along the way and from that point, I feel like Ian and I always had a pretty good relationship.
“And ultimately, my number one priority with the team is always getting the result for the team over and above my own racing. I would only ever take drivers in a sister car in my team if I thought it’s going to be a good team environment.
“But I’m pretty sure Ian and Phil are going to be great teammates, and we’ll be able to help each other versus the rest of the field.
“We essentially get two shots at assessing setup, two shots at strategy. We get two shots at everything, and it feels a lot bigger than just those two cars.”
Both Leung and Harper’s Silverstone 500 victories have been with the BMW M4 GT3 package, in both its previous and current Evo generations.
It’s a car and brand that Leung is particularly fond of, so much so that his team competes full-time in the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance and Sprint Cups with a trio of M4s.
“It’s a very well-developed car,” he says. “From what the base chassis is, it’s very well engineered, very reliable. It’s also quite an ergonomic place to be.
“The problem we have is that the strongest point of this car is speed down the straight. So it’s a little bit box-sensitive. It’s a little bit grip-sensitive. Apart from that, it’s a great car.”
Ahead of the Silverstone 500, Paradine was present at the Media Day, making use of the testing time on the Silverstone circuit with its #91 BMW, which amassed 74 laps. While the times set during the day should be taken with a pinch of salt, it was a handy opportunity for the Paradine team to get a feel for this year’s field, which is nicely balanced across the GT3 and GT4 classes.
“There’s quite a varied pool of driver ability, so you’ve got guys who may be making their debut in GT3, and then you’ve got some of the best factory drivers in the world,” Leung assesses.
“The ones who figure out how to work with the traffic, most generally, are the ones who win out. And then also, from a strategy perspective, it’s one of the most interesting races with the ruleset and the three-hour format, there’s generally quite a lot of options.
“Last year, they tried to close those options down, but inadvertently ended up making the strategy even more interesting. That was where we ended up making a couple of good calls and managed to win the race, which we definitely didn’t expect from this car.”
The competition this weekend will be strong, from the full-season teams looking to bank early points, to the one-off entries like the Mercedes-AMG for last year’s British GT champions, Kiern Jewiss and Charles Dawson.
Last year, the winning margin for Leung and Harper was just 0.6 seconds. If Paradine is to win it again this year, it’s likely to be just as tight.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
