Paradine’s Leung / Harper take Pole for Silverstone 500
April 25, 2026Words: Andy Lloyd
Images: Paren Raval (@parenraval)
Darren Leung and Dan Harper, teammates behind the wheel of the #91 Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 Evo, took pole position for the three-hour Silverstone 500, the opening round of the 2026 British GT Championship.
Leung drove for the first session, putting in a 1:58.709 to lap the 3.66- mile Silverstone GP circuit nearly a second quicker than the #63 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 in the hands of Rob Collard. Third quickest was Charles Dawson in the #1 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo who put in a 1:59.71.
Quickest of the GT3SA class was Marc Warren, driving the #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. Warren finished the session fifth quickest overall with a 1:59.862, just over a tenth of a second behind Morgan Tillbrook in the sister #77 Optimum McLaren.
Dan Harper sealed pole for the Paradine squad with a 1:57.611 to set an aggregate time of 3:56.320, just over six tenths quicker than the #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren after Ben Barnicoat lapped in 1:57.214.
Completing the overall top three in the GT3 class was the #63 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini after Hugo Cook put in a 1:57.693 to set an aggregate 3:57.339.
The GT3SA pole went to the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini in which Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski set an aggregate 3:57.834.
In the GT4 category, pole was taken by the #74 GT4S #74 Innovation Racing Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo piloted by Thomas Holland and Hadley Simpson. The duo set an aggregate time of 4:18.723, ahead of the #42 Toto Verde Ginetta of Luke Dhaw and Jack Mitchell. Quickest of the GT4S class, and third quickest overall in the GT4 class, was the #21 MK Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 driven by Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton with an aggregate time of 4:19.390.
The lights go out for the Silverstone 500 at 1.00pm BST on Sunday April 26th.
