Dan Harper kept his cool under relentless late-race pressure from Kiern Jewiss to claim a thrilling victory in the Silverstone 500 — his and Darren Leung’s second win at the iconic endurance event in three years. Their triumph capped a stellar day for BMW, as Century Motorsport’s Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson also took GT4 honours.
But it could have been a very different story. Jewiss, sharing the 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG with Charles Dawson, had clawed back to the front and briefly led before a late drive-through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags dashed their hopes of lifting the prestigious RAC Trophy. Still, the duo salvaged maximum championship points for the second consecutive round.
In GT3, Marvin Kirchhöfer set a blistering race lap record en route to third overall with Morgan Tillbrook in the Optimum McLaren, while Matt Topham and Darren Burke brought home Silver-Am class victory for Steller Motorsport in ninth overall.
GT4 looked to be Mahiki’s race to lose until a wheel stud failure sent Aiden Neate’s Lotus spinning into retirement. That opened the door for Ramyead and Robertson, who perfectly executed a clean race to defeat their title rivals Marc Warren and Jack Brown (Optimum). The win ended Optimum’s Silverstone 500 streak and helped Century earn the British GT “Team of the Weekend” Award, bolstered by a third-place finish from Branden Templeton and Chris Salkeld in the squad’s second M4.
GT3: BMW Strategy and Grit Prevail in a Tactical Masterclass
The Silverstone 500 once again showcased how British GT’s three-hour format is as much a game of strategy as raw speed.
Tillbrook led from pole in a clean opening stint, chased by Kevin Tse, Giacomo Petrobelli, and a charging Rob Collard. Early pit stops began after 30 minutes, but the race was soon thrown into chaos by a Full Course Yellow and Safety Car period. Teams that hadn’t yet pitted — including 2 Seas’ #18 — lost valuable ground.
Paradine’s BMW pounced. Harper briefly took the wheel before quickly handing back to Leung under yellow, allowing them to leapfrog the field as others scrambled to respond. Additional Safety Car periods added more shakeups, particularly the third neutralisation to recover Mahiki’s stricken Lotus, which forced a final round of stint resets.
Jewiss surged to the front after the final restart, knowing he needed one more pit stop to comply with stint rules — a stop that would drop him behind Harper. But then Paradine was hit with a one-second stop-go penalty for a short pitstop, putting the two cars back in lockstep.
In a nail-biting final 10 minutes, Jewiss closed the gap but couldn’t complete the move, finishing just 0.580 seconds behind Harper, whose defensive drive sealed a hard-fought win.
Kirchhöfer was untouchable on pace and reeled in the top two but ran out of time to mount a serious challenge, settling for third. Blackthorn’s Adam and Petrobelli came home fourth, with strong runs from Orange Racing by JMH and both Barwell Lamborghinis rounding out the top seven — despite time penalties and setbacks.
GT4: Ramyead and Robertson Capitalise on Mahiki Heartbreak
In GT4, it was heartbreak for Mahiki and opportunity for Century.
Pole-sitters Josh Miller and Aiden Neate looked on course for victory after overcoming their extra Silver pitstop penalty and pulling a clear lead. But their race ended abruptly when the Lotus’s left-rear wheel detached at high speed, sending Neate into a spin and out of contention.
That left Ramyead and Robertson to take control. Ramyead had hounded Miller in the first stint before handing over under the first caution. Robertson then applied pressure until Mahiki extended their lead through a long second stint, only for disaster to strike.
With Mahiki gone, Century’s BMW surged ahead of Warren and Brown’s McLaren. Robertson pulled away after the final stops, sealing a third GT4 win in six races for the duo and pushing them into a tie at the top of the championship standings.
Century also celebrated a podium for Templeton and Salkeld in third, while Optimum’s George and Hopkinson took fourth. Rob Boston Racing’s Orton and Burns delivered a composed drive to fifth and Endurance Cup class victory after Team Parker’s Mercedes lost time to a pit penalty.
Mahiki still had reason to celebrate with Duggan and Wheeler completing the Pro-Am podium in sixth overall.
Next up: Oulton Park, May 24–26, where the championship shifts to sprint mode with back-to-back races over the bank holiday weekend.
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By Matt Hancock
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