Century Motorsport’s Dan Harper and Darren Leung were crowned British GT winners at the Silverstone 500 after a meteoric recovery drive from 18th.
On the weekend Britain crowned a new king, a 43-car grid was British GT’s largest in a decade, although stereotypical British weather left qualifying a deluge. Four incidents and a brace of red flags later, the sessions were abandoned with combined times from second free practice making up Sunday’s grid.
One of the biggest losers was therefore Century Motorsport as teething troubles in FP2 left its BMW M4 pairing in an unrepresentative position on the grid. “We had a few issues,” said Harper, “but it was bad luck how it went. Even in warm-up we had a misfire and were wondering when we were going to catch a break.”
The beneficiaries, meanwhile, were father-and-son duo Richard and Sam Neary, their Abba Racing-run machine leading a Mercedes washout of the front two rows with RAM Racing and 2 Seas in tow.
“I think Peter [Daly, race director] made the right call with four crashes,” said Sam Neary. “With big tyres, too much horsepower, I think it was the safer decision.”
Under Sunday’s bright blue skies, things looked promising for the German machines, but a series of dramas hindered their charge. The issues started as early as the sighting lap to the grid, when RAM Racing’s John Ferguson was released into the fastlane in the pits where he made contact with another car. Tape applied, the Irishman’s Mercedes took its front-row start but was shuffled back to sixth in the opening laps, its pace seemingly hobbled.
“The car seems to be difficult to drive,” were Ferguson’s ominous words after his first stint. “It’s damage limitation. I was released out into another car, and there was a collision.”
The Abba challenge then wilted over the stints, despite a strong opener by Richard Neary, as 2 Seas’ lead entry moved to the front with Jonny Adam, in for James Cottingham, after a quicker first pitstop under safety car conditions. The sister 2 Seas Mercedes suffered a setback on its first visit to the pits, however, as Ian Loggie dropped out of the top 10 when the car was forced out of its correct box position. Haemorrhaging time while stationary, reigning champion Loggie and co-driver Jules Gounon never fully recovered as they eventually salvaged seventh place.
Source: Autosport