+ Optimum’s McLaren beats Century and Paradine BMWs
+ Innovation triumph on GT4 debut with Holland and Simpson
+ Result: 2006 Silverstone 500
Optimum’s strategic masterstroke helped Yasser Shahin and Garnet Patterson claim a surprise Silverstone 500 win in British GT’s blue riband season opener, while Innovation and Hadley Simpson – as well as Thomas Holland – converted pole position into GT4 victory on their series debuts.
In terms of pure pace, the three-hour encounter should have been won by Darren Leung and Dan Harper who controlled the race from pole position for the first two-and-a-half hours. But a combination of Safety Car timing and Optimum’s pitstop gamble ultimately restricted Paradine’s BMW to third overall behind another M4: Century’s example shared by Jonathon Beeson and Charles Clark.
As well as finishing second, the Silver-Am duo also lead GT3’s early standings by dint of Shahin and Patterson’s guest entry status. However, their overall victory will go down as the first for an Australian since Charlie Cox won at Croft in September 1997.
Further back, Holland and Simpson converted GT4 pole position into victory over MK Racing’s Aston Martin of Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton, while the Optimum McLaren shared by Luca Hopkinson and Josh Stanton completed a top three covered by 1.8s. It was the first time in two years that a team other than Century or Optimum had won the class, as well as Ginetta’s first victory since 2023.
Another G56 was also firmly in contention before unfortunate pitstop and Safety Car timing restricted Luke Shaw and Jack Mitchell to fifth overall. However, Toro Verde’s duo did at least celebrate winning the Pro-Am class.
More to follow.
