The British GT race weekend at Silverstone didn’t start all that well for Century Motorsport, who races an M4 GT3 in the Pro-Am class with works driver Dan Harper teamed up with Am driver Darren Leung. Heavy rain at the circuit led to the cancellation of qualifying, and the series decided to base the starting grid on the results from the latest practice session. The Century Motorsport duo had only set the 18th fastest time in that session, so had to start the race from way back in the field.
By race day on Sunday, the weather was sunny and dry, and the BMW team quickly showed that they were going to be a contender. Darren Leung worked his way up into tenth just twenty minutes into the race, and once Dan Harper got in, he worked his way into sixth by 45 minutes into the three-hour race. Leung did a great job in his second stint to keep the #91 M4 GT3 in sixth, and after a lengthy caution period late in the race, Harper took over to finish.
With 28 minutes left in the race, Harper moved quickly from fourth place into second, and then went fender-to-fender with the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini before taking the lead with under twelve minutes left. He held on to get the victory, and also set the fastest lap of the race. “I can’t believe it, to be honest, with how things have gone all weekend,” said Harper after the race. “I’m just so happy for Darren and the team. There’s been so much hard work and we have this thing in a really good window. It’s such a pleasure to drive.” It was the team’s first victory after finishing sixth in both rounds at Oulton Park in early April.
The team also had success in the GT4 class, with drivers Carl Cavers and Lewis Plato finishing on the podium in third in class in their #22 M4 GT4. The next round of the British GT championship is at Donington Park on the weekend of May 27th-28th. —David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO]
