Silverstone 500
04th July 2021
Whilst Brands Hatch and several other circuits may consider themselves the home of motor racing, Silverstone at the moment is probably recognised as home. The Intelligent Money British GT Championship moved on from the opener at Brands to Silverstone for the 10th Anniversary of the Silverstone 500. The name of the race and 500 relates to the approximate number of kilometres covered in the three hour race, roughly 85 laps of the GP circuit.
The GT racing consists of pro / am combination teams, and for the 500 there are no pitstop windows, but at least three driver changes must take place, and no individual driver can exceed 100 minutes of driving time.
Any success penalties from the previous round must be served at the final mandatory stop. The pit stops are also measured in terms of minimum times from pit in to pit out. For the GT3 GT4 pro am cars it is 165 second. In addition to this the top three finishers from the preceding round must remain stationary during their final mandatory pit stop for a further 20,15 and 10 seconds respectively.
Each driver contests one of four qualifying sessions, with the grid determined by combining each crew members fastest lap.
The Silverstone race saw 6 additional crews added to the Brands Hatch line up, none of whom score points in the championship season. One of these crews though Hunter Abbott and Martin Kodric would prove to have a stand out weekend, landing pole position in qualifying, and at the start of the race opening up a massive 7 second lead after just 8 laps. Tactically good throughout, with pit stops well timed, they ran out eventual winners by over 7 seconds to land the 1932 RAC Trophy and winners of the 2021 Silverstone 500.
The Silverstone race saw 6 additional crews added to the Brands Hatch line up, none of whom score points in the championship season. One of these crews though Hunter Abbott and Martin Kodric would prove to have a stand out weekend, landing pole position in qualifying, and at the start of the race opening up a massive 7 second lead after just 8 laps. Tactically good throughout, with pit stops well timed, they ran out eventual winners by over 7 seconds to land the 1932 RAC Trophy and winners of the 2021 Silverstone 500.