Silverstone 500 British GT, Race Day - 07/05/23
Words and Images by Mitcham Media
Day two of the Silverstone 500 kicked off with another early start, latte and breakfast wrap before blitzing up the M40 to the home of Formula One in the UK.
A quick 15 minute warm up session at 9:30am for the GT teams was a teasing bit of foreplay ahead of the race start at 12:20pm. Despite the warm up supposedly being a gentle demonstration and bit of practice, the drivers were not holding back. At times cars were coming into Brooklands two and even three abreast, great watching for the spectators but you can imagine how much the team were twitching back in the paddock.
Even in the short session you could see the lap times falling as drivers got into the flow of race pace, building up the anticipation for the race very well.
The two hours between the practice and the race gave plenty of time to watch some of the single seater racing but also another wander round the paddock and the supercar parking which was a race day addition.
The already high bar set by Saturday had been totally blown out the water, with everything from Cayman GT4s to a Ferrari F40 and even an Aston Martin Valkyrie being in attendance in the forward parking.
It was difficult not to become somewhat numb to seeing 911 GT3s, Huracan STOs and Aston Martin Vantages with the car park being full of cars seldom seen in a standard situation.
Some of the details are still eye catching even having seen things over and over in the past, this included some clear coated carbon fibre wheels on a Ferrari SF90 along with all the agressive Forged Carbon on the Huracan STO’s.
At 12:20 after a tension building out lap the green lights finally flashed accompanied by a tremendous thunder erupting from the start line as more than 40 GT cars roared into the start of the race.
Leading into Copse was the bright chrome green Mercedes AMG GT3 gaining ground away from the pack behind including both the 2seas motorsport Mercedes, Edwin Lowe Mercedes and the Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage. A few car lengths later and raging through came the rest of the pack just inches from each other’s bumpers.
Most impressive was the avoidance of any clashes for a few laps, especially considering at some corners they were entering three wide.
The safety car coming out a short while into the race gave the pack a chance to bunch up, consuming all the lead the number 8 Mercedes had worked so hard to produce. With all the drivers within touching distance as the safety car re-entered the pit lane, the next few laps were chaotic with overtakes left right and centre as the GT3 cars who’d been stuck at the rear of the pack picked their way through and everyone else jostled for position.
A total change from Saturday, the spring sun was beating down on Silverstone, you could see the heat rising off the tarmac of the circuit.
With the race taking place on the full Silverstone International Circuit it gave plenty of opportunity to find epic places to watch the action both on the infield and around the perimeter of the circuit. This was the first time experiencing the full circuit and it gave a whole new appreciation for Silverstone, in the past we’ve perceived it as a very flat circuit with few vantage points to spectate, but getting having the full track to explore shifted the experience up.
The Silverstone 500 was also the first time attending race day for a British GT round, and the turnout of spectators was great to see, with the track lined with people, the grandstands busy and everyone having a good day out.
Late on in the race the Team Brit McLaren GT4 car spun out at Maggots and Becketts leading to a heavy collision when a McLaren 720s GT3 was unable to make evasive manoeuvres as the Team Brit car rejoined. Both drivers were checked over and okay, but the debris caused a lengthy safety car period as the marshalls cleared up. Having the safety car out again meant the remaining drivers once again bunched together. At this late stage in the race a sprint finish was inevitable and made all the more competitive as the Pro drivers were taking residence in the GT3 cars for the last stint.
With the final few minutes ticking away it was a close battle at the front of the GT3 group with the Century Motorsport M4, Number 78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 and RAM Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 all within 5 seconds of each other. With pretty much every lap of the last 20 minutes the order seemed to change taking it right down to the last lap.
Some ambitiously late braking from. Sandy Mitchell in the Lamborghini gave the Century Motorsport M4 an opportunity to make a fantastic overtake round Brooklands, slingshotting them into the lead.
A massive congratulations to the number 91 car, the BMW M4 GT3 run by Century Motorsport with Darren Leung and Dan Harper who took the victory having completed a total of 78 laps over the 3 hour race. For the GT4 class Charles Clark and Jack Brown in their Optimum Motorsport run McLaren Artura GT4 smashed out an impressive 73 laps claiming the class win a full lap clear of their next nearest rival.
A huge thank you to British GT for organising a great event, and to Silverstone for hosting, but most importantly thank you to the drivers and teams who were committed come rain or shine to put on a phenomenal weekend of racing.
Check out more shots from race day below, and keep an eye out for more blog posts coming soon.
