A BRITISH GT & GINETTA THRILLER AT THE SILVERSTONE 500

British GT Championship (written by Tom Hornsby)
Dan Harper withstood intense late race pressure from Kiern Jewiss to seal his and Darren Leung’s second Silverstone 500 win in three years on a day when BMW also celebrated British GT4 victory with Century’s Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson.

Paradine’s guest M4 kept 2 Seas’ charging Mercedes-AMG at arm’s length over the final 10 minutes after the car shared by Jewiss and Charles Dawson served a late drive-through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. Without it, the championship leaders – who bagged maximum points for the second race running regardless – would have almost certainly added their names to the historic RAC Trophy.

Marvin Kirchhöfer added a new race lap record to his qualifying benchmark en route to third overall with Optimum and Morgan Tillbrook, while Steller’s Audi crewed by Matt Topham and Darren Burke took Silver-Am class victory in ninth overall.

The GT4 spoils should have gone Mahiki’s way, but a wheel stud failure robbed Aiden Neate and Josh Miller of a likely win. Instead, Ramyead and Robertson paced their race to perfection to beat title rivals Marc Warren and Jack Brown (Optimum), whose Silverstone 500 winning streak finally came to an end.

Third went to Century’s other M4 shared by Branden Templeton and Chris Salkeld. The squad’s collective effort, which also included Robertson’s new class lap record, earned it British GT’s Team of the Weekend Award.

GT3

British GT’s three-hour format leaves ample room for strategy to play a significant role in the result. And so it proved once again at Silverstone where the top two stole a march on their rivals despite making two more pitstops than strictly necessary.

Tillbrook started from pole and led a relatively drama-less opening stint from Kevin Tse, Giacomo Petrobelli, a charging Rob Collard – up four places from eighth – Alex Martin, Darren Leung and Dawson.

The first pitstops began after 30 minutes, but it was the intervention of a Full Course Yellow and Safety Car period shortly after that hampered the likes of Blackthorn and 2 Seas’ #18 entry which, unlike their fellow front runners, swapped drivers under green flag running just before the FCY.

The subsequent Safety Car was also the catalyst for Paradine to strategically make its second pitstop in quick succession. Harper had only been in the car at reduced speed for a short period but made way for Leung before Barwell and 2 Seas followed suit one lap later with their #78 and #18 entries.

Contact between Sam Neary and Matt Griffin then sent Spirit of Race’s Ferrari spinning into Vale’s gravel trap 15 minutes later. This triggered the second FCY/Safety Car intervention that saw most of the other Am drivers hop back onboard.

However, it was the third and final neutralisation – required to recover Mahiki’s #84 Lotus – that really brought Dawson and Jewiss into play. They were circulating a net fifth before stopping during the FCY procedure with more than 65 minutes left to run – the maximum stint length permitted. That meant Jewiss required a fourth pit visit to re-set his stint time, just as Harper – who stopped earlier – had already done.

Penalties for both Barwell Lamborghinis and 2 Seas’ #18 Mercedes-AMG left Optimum and Blackthorn as the other two victory contenders. But their chances were unintentionally dented by delaying the final stop until less than 65 minutes remained. In theory this would have been faster than pitting early and re-setting but circumstances conspired against that logic when pit exit incorrectly remained closed after the Safety Car train had passed for the final time. The likes of Kirchhöfer and Jonny Adam lost approximately 20 seconds whilst stationary at the red light and then conceded further time running behind a GT4 competitor on their final Safety Car lap.

Jewiss took the lead soon after the restart but knew that his impending re-set would drop the car back behind Harper. However, Paradine then received a one-second stop-go penalty for a short pitstop, which effectively cancelled out 2 Seas’ own additional pit visit.

The Mercedes-AMG duly re-set its stint time and rejoined comfortably ahead of Harper’s BMW. The job appeared to be done until Dawson’s earlier yellow flag infringement earned Jewiss a drive-through penalty, which dropped him three seconds behind the new race leader.

Donington’s winner initially chipped away at the advantage but only seriously began to home in with 10 minutes remaining. The pair ran almost nose to tail over the final lap but Harper kept his cool to take the chequered flag just 0.580s ahead.

Pace wise, Kirchhöfer was in a class of his own all weekend and closed to within nine seconds of the winning BMW over the final hour.

Like Optimum’s duo, Blackthorn’s Adam and Petrobelli will wonder what might have been after finishing fourth, while Orange Racing by JMH, Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton enjoyed a strong run to fifth despite incurring a post-race 10-second penalty.

Barwell’s Lamborghinis recovered to sixth and seventh after both served penalties while Paddock’s McLaren lost a spot post-race for a safety car infringement.

GT4
Two crews are tied at the top of GT4’s early standings after Ramyead and Robertson scored their third win in the last six British GT races. But their cause was undoubtedly helped when Mahiki’s Lotus suffered a spectacular high-speed mechanical failure.

An off-beat strategy helped pole winners Josh Miller and Aiden Neate to negate their extra Silver pitstop time and establish a clear advantage as the race ticked past half distance. But their afternoon was cut short soon after when the left-rear wheel detached approaching The Loop and sent Neate spinning into retirement.

With the most obvious victory candidate out, Ramyead and Robertson capitalised in style by adding GT4 victory to BMW’s successful day at the head of the field.

Ramyead led the chase of Miller during the opening stint before handing to Robertson under the first Full Course Yellow. Robertson then piled the pressure on Neate after the Safety Car bunched the pack before the Emira re-established a gap and then inherited a huge lead when Mahiki ran long through the second caution period.

The Lotus’s subsequent demise left Ramyead leading Warren’s Optimum McLaren, which had worked its way back up the order after taking a bash on the opening lap. Ramyead managed to forge an advantage of a few seconds, which Robertson then extended by pulling clear of the chasing Brown across the last hour after the final round of stops.

Templeton and Salkeld celebrated Silver success in third overall, making it a double class victory for the Century team after a consistent drive.

Harry George and Luca Hopkinson were second in class and fourth overall in the #17 Optimum Artura as the Rob Boston Racing Porsche shared by Jamie Orton and Will Burns ran strongly to fifth overall and Endurance Cup victory. The latter was aided by their biggest rivals, Ed McDermott and Seb Morris (Team Parker Mercedes-AMG), losing time to a pit infringement penalty inside the final hour.

Ian Duggan and Joe Wheeler (Mahiki) completed the Pro-Am podium in sixth overall.

Next up it’s Oulton Park where British GT stages the first two of this year’s four sprint races over the late May bank holiday weekend (May 24-26).

GINETTA GT CHAMPIONSHIP (written by Ginetta)

Archie Clark has extended his dream start to the 2025 Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship season with a brilliant double victory across a pair of 25-minute sprint races at Silverstone (26/27 April).

Simpson perfectly executed the rolling start to lead away from pole position at the start and a swift opening lap netted him an early 1.6 second lead. Pratt-Thompson slotted into second place, with Clark (MDD Racing) grabbing third from Nick White through Copse for the first time.

Pratt-Thompson started edging closer to Simpson in the early laps, but Clark stuck with him and went on to grab second place through The Loop on lap four. Their battle allowed Simpson to extend his lead back to 1.5 seconds, but Clark was soon hunting him down.

The Ginetta Junior graduate posted the fastest lap of the race as he latched onto Simpson’s tail and a good move through Club corner netted him the lead on the penultimate lap. Simpson and Pratt-Thompson went on to complete the PRO podium alongside him.

Nick White secured the PRO AM class win in fourth overall, but he had to work hard for the success. Harry Gamble (Elite Motorsport) pressured him throughout the race and briefly nosed ahead over the start-finish line late on, but White fended him off for the class spoils.

Reigning PRO champion Mckenzie Douglass (Fox Motorsport) kicked off his title defence with a battling drive forward to sixth overall. He pulled off a last lap move on Robert Cronin (Elite Motorsport) down the Wellington Straight, with Mike Taylor (Triple M Motorsport) following him through into Brooklands.

Taylor therefore came home seventh as he completed the PRO AM podium. Cronin was next up ahead of fellow PRO contender Jack Collins (E3 Sport), who had enjoyed some good wheel-to-wheel action with Taylor and AM class victor Luke Shaw (Raceway Motorsport) in the early stages.

Shaw completed the top ten overall ahead of his closest AM rival Juffali. Behind Alex Duncan (Xentek Motorsport), Carl Garnett (Breakell Racing) completed the AM class podium after pulling off a late move on Peter Mangion (Elite Motorsport), with Colin White (CWS Engineering) fifth in class.

Clark started Sunday’s race from pole position courtesy of setting the best ‘second fastest time’ in qualifying. As he converted pole into the race lead off the rolling start ahead of Simpson, early changes behind saw Nick White and Douglass work their way past Cronin.

Douglass went on to pass White for third at Vale, with Gamble also picking him off before the end of the opening lap to secure the PRO AM lead. Cronin meanwhile dropped back to sixth and went on to swap places back and forth with Collins over the next couple of laps.

At the front, the top two traded fastest laps through the race. Simpson remained within a second throughout but couldn’t get close enough to force a move, with Clark making it a perfect record of four wins from four races to start his maiden GT Championship season.

Douglass picked up his first podium of the season in third, with Gamble securing the PRO AM honours in fourth overall. A wide moment for White at Aintree on lap eight allowed Cronin through to grab fifth, before Collins pulled off a last lap move on White at Stowe to complete the top six.

Pratt-Thompson was sixth of the PRO contenders in eighth overall ahead of Duncan, who secured his first Ginetta podium with third in PRO AM. He benefitted from Taylor losing ground on the opening lap, with the reigning GT Academy rookie champion recovering to tenth.

Juffalli ended Shaw’s 100% winning start in the AM class with his maiden victory, whilst Garnett fended off early pressure from Colin White to secure his second podium of the weekend. James Townsend (SVG Motorsport), Oliver Fordham (Fox Motorsport), Emma Tomlinson (DTO Motorsport) and Amy Tomlinson (Raceway Motorsport) completed the finishers.

GINETTA GT ACADEMY (written by Ginetta)
James Nicholas and Jamie Caudle shared the victories from a thrilling pair of Ginetta GT Academy races at Silverstone (26/27 April).
Nicholas went on to convert pole position into a brilliant lights-to-flag victory in the opening race to become the third different race-winner of 2025. He didn’t have it all his own way at the front of the field though, with Caudle looming large in his mirrors throughout the race.

Digby wasn’t far behind either, with the top three separated by less than a second at the chequered flag. A clear fourth meanwhile was Shrimpton, who pulled clear of the chasing pack to secure a dominant victory in the rookie class ahead of Sapra.

Louis Darling (MDD Racing) was on a charge through the race, gaining three positions including a late overtake on Alex Deighton (Paradine by Xentek) to secure a top six finish. Hot on their heels at the end was Joe Edge (W2R), who completed the rookie class podium alongside Shrimpton and Sapra.

Robin Grimwood (E3 Sport) and Allan Wright (W2R) rounded out the overall top ten ahead of W2R duo Lucie Hodgson and Peter Thompson. Chris Babington (SVG Motorsport) was on course for a top ten finish on his GT Academy debut, before unfortunately slipping back to 13th late on.

Nicholas started race two from pole position as well, however a good run out of Copse for the first time allowed Digby to draft ahead. An early change behind saw Shrimpton slip back from third to sixth, before a spin later in the lap at Vale dropped him to tenth overall.

The lead changed hands back again on lap two as Nicholas got through at The Loop. Digby briefly regained the advantage at Village on lap four before Nicholas hit back at the next corner, however Digby’s repeated his opening lap move out of Copse to slot back in front on lap five.

Caudle had latched onto their tail to make it a three-way battle at the front of the field and that put him in a prime position on lap eight, when an attempted move by Nicholas into Brooklands resulted in contact that spun both himself and Digby around.

As Caudle took the lead and ultimately the race victory, Deighton moved up to second. Digby recovered to third and was determined to regain lost ground on the final lap, however contact with Deighton through The Loop resulted in Digby having to retire from the race.

Deighton came home in second overall ahead of rookie victor Edge, who took advantage of action-packed races for his class rivals Shrimpton and Sapra to go from third in class on the grid to the win. Nicholas recovered to fourth overall and a GTA class podium meanwhile.

Shrimpton fought back from his early spin and enjoyed a tremendous battle with Thompson and Darling in the closing laps. Darling finished fifth on the road, but a five-second track limits penalty put him behind Shrimpton and Thompson in the final result.

GTA class pair Grimwood and Hodgson were next up, while a late retirement for Wright opened the door for Damien Duffy (W2R) to score a maiden rookie class podium finish in tenth overall. SVG Motorsport team-mates Gilbert Verdian and Babington completed the race finishers, with Mike West (E3 Sport) unfortunately suffering his second DNF of the event.

In the Chairmans Cup, a class for drivers over the age of 45, Deighton took two wins from two races. Grimwood joined him on the podium after both races, while Wright and Thompson also picked up a trophy each.

GINETTA JUNIORS (written by Ginetta)
Rocco Coronel has written his name into the history books as the winner of the milestone 500th Ginetta Junior race. It came as part of a perfect victory hat-trick in the second round of the 20th anniversary season of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Silverstone (26/27 April).

Byrne started the opening race from pole position, however his advantage was unfortunately short-lived. Green dived down the inside into Copse to grab the lead, with Coronel and Slater also working their way past Byrne before contact at Village spun him to the rear of the field.

Smith emerged in fourth place ahead of Scott Kin Lindblom (R Racing) and Carney, but a spin of his own at Vale on lap two dropped Smith down the order too. As Lindblom broke clear in fourth, a huge battling pack behind was led by Colin Cronin (Elite Motorsport) and George Proudford-Nalder (MDD Racing).

At the front of the field, Green and Coronel worked in unison to pull a gap of over five seconds to Slater behind. Tucked under the rear wing of Green for many laps, Coronel bided his time before making a decisive move into Village on the penultimate lap to grab the race victory.

Behind, Slater fought hard to secure the final place on the overall podium but lost out to his team-mate Lindblom just past mid-distance. Proudford-Nalder broke away from the pack to secure a breakthrough result in fifth, leaving behind a mammoth scrap for sixth.

From a seven-car train on the final lap, Freddie Lloyd (Fox Motorsport) emerged in sixth on the road ahead of Cronin. They were both handed five-second time penalties for track limits infringements though, dropping them back three places each.

Carney therefore signed off an up-and-down race in sixth ahead of his Elite team-mate Emmilio Del Grosso and Ethan Lennon (Pace Performance). Lloyd was left to settle for ninth, having produced a brilliant charge forward from 17th on the grid, with Cronin in tenth.

Smith and Byrne impressively recovered from their early dramas to come home 11th and 12th respectively, while Jarrett Clark (R Racing) finished 13th after a last lap spin at Aintree whilst in the middle of the close-fought group battling for the top ten positions.

Max Cuthbert (R Racing) was 14th ahead of Revie Lake (Elite Motorsport), who rose four places from his grid position through the race. Behind, MKH Racing duo Harry Bartle and Raul Zunzarren were split by Josh Watts, with the latter’s Tim Gray Motorsport team-mates Matthew Chiwara and Joshua Henry completing the points finishers.

Green would start the milestone 500th Ginetta Junior race from pole position courtesy of posting the quickest ‘second fastest time’ in qualifying. He converted pole onto the early lead from Coronel, while early changes behind saw Smith and Carney work their way past third-place starter Byrne.

As Carney picked off Smith and challenged Coronel for second on lap two, a dramatic moment behind saw Byrne run wide at Farm and make contact with Slater and Lindblom whilst returning to the circuit. Cronin benefitted from the incident to rise to fifth ahead of Cuthbert, Clark and Lennon.

After a safety car period, the action resumed with a two-lap shootout to the chequered flag. Coronel initially had to fend off a challenge from Carney for second, but soon turned his attention to Green and launched a move around the outside at Brooklands.

Green spun around on the inside though, with the unfortunate Lennon, who had climbed from 14th to eighth, collecting his car and leading to retirement for both. Proudford-Nalder took advantage of the incident to storm forward from ninth to fourth ahead of Cuthbert, Cronin and a recovering Slater.

Coronel went on to lead through to the chequered flag for the honour of being victorious in the 500th race. Smith and Carney followed him home to make it a double podium for Elite, while fourth for Proudford-Nalder secured him a maiden rookie class podium finish.

Cronin and Slater enjoyed some thrilling wheel-to-wheel action in the final corners as they rounded out the overall top six ahead of Clark. Lloyd continued his phenomenal run of charging drives as he rose from 22nd on the grid to eighth ahead of Lindblom.

After a climb from 25th to 13th within three laps in race one went unrewarded with a retirement, Felix Livesey (MDD Racing) produced similar heroics as he scythed his way through the field from 25th to tenth. Lake gained five places himself to 11th ahead of Felipe Reijs (R Racing).

Noah Young (Performance One) was another driver on the move through the race, moving up from 24th on the grid to 13th at the finish. Behind, Henry Cameron (Fox Motorsport) and Katrina EE (Tim Gray Motorsport) picked up their first points finishes of the weekend.

With the race two result setting the grid for the final race of the weekend, it was Coronel’s turn to start from pole position. The Dutchman led the field through Copse for the first time, with Smith slotting into second whilst Proudford-Nalder passed Carney for third at Stowe corner.

A multi-car incident in the pack that ended the races of Cronin and Lake led to a safety car stoppage. When racing resumed, an attempted move from Carney on Proudford-Nalder at Chapel sent them both wide, allowed Slater to slot into third and latch onto the tail of the top two.

Despite Smith’s best efforts, Coronel remained out front and it was Slater who eventually made progress in the lead trio, passing Smith on the penultimate lap. Coronel meanwhile took his fifth consecutive race win, a tally only beaten by one driver in championship history.

After the restart, a frenetic battle over fourth position played out for a number of laps. A recovering Proudford-Nalder eventually broke clear of the pack to secure the place and his second rookie podium of the day, leaving behind a ten-car battle over the remaining places in the top six.

Lindblom was in the thick of the action and produced a superb penultimate lap to climb from ninth to an eventual fifth place result. Cuthbert bounced back from late troubles in race two with a phenomenal drive in the finale, working his way through from 21st on the grid to a top six result.

Producing similar numbers was Green, who went from 23rd to seventh through the race ahead of Livesey. An up-and-down race for Lloyd resulted in a ninth-place finish in front of Clark, with Lennon just missing out on a top ten result after a good charging drive from 22nd on the grid.

Carney finished 12th on the road, however a five-second track limits penalty dropped him back to 19th. Bartle was therefore classified 12th ahead of his MKH Racing team-mate Zunzarren, the latter equalling his best result of the season, while Byrne came home 14th from the back of the grid.

In the Freshmans Cup, a class for car-racing rookies with no previous national-level karting experience, Proudford-Nalder was the driver to beat with a comfortable triple victory. Lake, Cameron and Young each ended the weekend with two trophies apiece.