Dan Harper aboard the No.91 Paradine Competition BMW holds off 2 Seas Mercedes in the dying moments to take second win for Harper and Leung in the Blue Riband Silverstone 500
Darren Leung and Dan Harper have notched up a second Silverstone 500 win in 3 years, the pair played the strategy using safety cars to their advantage. 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.
(Credit: Michael Widdowson/MJW Media – Dan Harper holding off Kiern Jewiss in the dying moments)
“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 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. irchhöfer’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.
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