Harley Haughton (above left) claimed a brilliant fourth place on his British GT Championship debut in the Silverstone 500 yesterday (28 Apr).
The 19-year-old and co-driver Carl Garnett just missed out on a GT4 Pro-Am class podium finish in their Breakell Racing Mercedes-AMG in the three-hour race.
Garnett started the race in wet conditions with Haughton taking over the Mercedes 25mins into the three-hour race, resuming eighth in class but lying sixth at one-third distance, Harley handing the Merc over to Garnett in fourth.
Haughton was back behind the wheel with 45mins remaining, impressively slicing his way up from fifth to third prior to serving a drive-through penalty in the closing minutes for slight contact with another car, dropping Harley to fourth.
Harley, who is scheduled to compete in the penultimate BGT round, a 2hr race at Donington Park (8 Sep), is testing his Sorg Rennsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS at the Nürburgring on Thursday (2 May).
Harley said:
“An absolutely fantastic result on my British GT Championship debut! The team did a fantastic job at the pit-stops and with the race strategy which put us in a brilliant position. Progress was made with the Mercedes while Carl and I improved as the weekend progressed.
“Free Practice and Pre-qualifying went well but we changed the set-up for qualifying. I made a couple of errors on what would have been my best lap and with the big field being so close, it cost us dearly.
“We knew it would be tough starting at the back of the field combined with the very changeable weather and track conditions. Carl made up a couple of places before I took over after an early pit-stop.
“I drove a solid stint, catching and passing a couple of GT4 cars before timing our second stop perfectly during a Full Course yellow period. During my last stint, I charged through the GT4 field and in to third but a late stop-go penalty for a small collision meant we dropped to fourth at the chequered flag.
“Nevertheless, my thanks go to everyone involved at Breakell Racing, Carl for his effort and determination, and our sponsors for making my BGT debut possible.”