BRITISH GT: RECORDS TUMBLE AS KIRCHHÖFER AND MAHIKI STEAL THE SPOTLIGHT AT SILVERSTONE
GT3: KIRCHHÖFER STUNS WITH RECORD LAP TO GRAB POLE
Marvin Kirchhöfer unleashed a record-breaking lap at Silverstone to put Optimum Motorsport and teammate Morgan Tillbrook on pole for Sunday’s three-hour Silverstone 500. The McLaren driver wasn’t just fast—he was untouchable, beating the previous British GT qualifying record and leaving his rivals scrambling.
Tillbrook had put the #7 McLaren in the mix with a strong showing in Q1, just a tenth off Giacomo Petrobelli. But it was Kirchhöfer who turned the tables in Q2 with a scorching 1m56.569s—blowing past the 2022 record by a tenth and giving Optimum a 0.661s advantage over 2 Seas Motorsport’s Kevin Tse and Maximilian Götz. Petrobelli and Jonny Adam’s Aston Martin was just 0.004s behind in a nail-biting finish to the session.
Elsewhere, Kessel Racing’s guest duo Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda topped the Silver-Am class in ninth overall.
The GT3 top 10 featured five different manufacturers, underlining the series’ depth. Barwell’s Lamborghini of Alex Martin and Patrick Kujala locked out row two, Paradine’s BMW driven by defending race winners Darren Leung and Dan Harper took P5, and Orange Racing’s Marcus Clutton hauled their McLaren up to sixth after a tough Friday. Donington winners Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss fought through 30kg of ballast to qualify seventh, ahead of Rob Collard and Hugo Cook in the second Barwell entry.
Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren and Kessel’s Silver-Am class-leading Ferrari rounded out the top 10.
GT4: MAHIKI BOUNCES BACK IN STYLE
After being stripped of pole last time out, Mahiki Racing came back with a vengeance at Silverstone, as Josh Miller and Aiden Neate dominated GT4 qualifying with a record-breaking performance in their Lotus Emira.
Miller wasted no time in Q3, obliterating the old lap record by 0.8s on his very first flyer—1.4 seconds clear of the field. That blistering time allowed Neate to cruise in Q4, setting the fourth-best time in the session and comfortably securing the overall GT4 pole.
Jack Mitchell came closest to toppling Miller’s time, carving 0.016s off the provisional lap record with a late flyer, but it wasn’t quite enough. His effort, alongside Steven Lake, was good for fifth overall.
Behind the dominant Mahiki duo, Optimum’s Marc Warren and Jack Brown claimed second and the Pro-Am pole in their McLaren, just ahead of Century’s Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson in third. The other Optimum Artura, piloted by Harry George and Luca Hopkinson, starts fourth overall and second in the Silver category.
The second row is completed by Century’s Chris Salkeld and Branden Templeton, while Team Parker Racing’s Mercedes-AMG line up next with Currie/Keen just ahead of their stablemates McDermott/Morris.
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By Matt Hancock
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