A battle to the flag sees one of the closest ever finishes at Silverstone 500

The British GT championship returned over the weekend, and the action saw 2 Seas Motorsport fighting at the front of the field for the season’s blue riband Silverstone 500 event. The team delivered an impressive performance across qualifying and the race, with a front row start for Kevin Tse and Maximillian Gotz, before a strategic masterclass put teammates Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss in the fight all the way to the chequered flag after three hours, finishing just 0.6s off the win. The result sees the #42 pairing extend their lead at the head of the standings with maximum points from the first two races.

The race weekend took place at 2 Seas’ UK home circuit, with the team headquarters located on the perimeter of Silverstone circuit. Performance in the early sessions looked to continue from the opening round of the calendar, although both cars arrived at the event with performance compensation penalties to serve following the win and podium. Qualifying saw the #18 Contempo Concept entry immediately on the front foot, setting benchmark sector times and provisionally fighting for the front row. The #42 fought hard to also be in the top-10 in the opening session with Charles at the wheel, setting up for the second half of the session. Max took over the #18, and repeated Kevin’s impressive efforts to secure a second consecutive Silverstone 500 front row. Over the combined laptimes, Kiern also moved the #42 up the order to take P7 for the start of the three hour event.

The race itself was as action-packed as had been billed, although several extended caution periods would see the running order shuffled and strategies feature heavily in the overall outcome. With Kevin fighting for the lead, both cars held position before an opportunistic first stop by the #18 looked to make the best of clear track, but unlucky timing with the first caution period would allow the chasing pack to gain time and track position, and immediately dropped the front runners down the order. The sister car rolled the dice early, opting for track position as the majority of the field pitted, and led the field before a later pitstop during the extended full course caution. With the #18 out of position as the race resumed, Kevin was then involved in a first corner incident, while a switch to Kiern saw the fortunes of the #42 switch, running in the final podium spot.

At the one-hour mark, the race settled down into a rhythm as several penalties were confirmed following the caution period. With these penalties and further pitstop cycles playing out, Charles and Kiern continued to chip away, running a different strategy to the rest of the field. Despite having the pace of the leaders, the bad luck in the opening hour had dropped the #18 pairing of Max and Kevin down the order, with an uphill battle to recover back into contention.

Further incidents and cautions continued over the middle hour, and a positive restart from final Safety Car intervention saw Kiern immediately capitalize on the situation, gaining important ground. Just before the two-hour mark, the strategy of the #42 came fully into play, and allowed Kiern to make a move into the race lead, with one scheduled pitstop remaining. Over the course of the following laps, the palm tree liveried Mercedes-AMG GT3 built a margin at the front, and Kiern completed the final stop still holding the lead, while Max continued the recovery, now P15.

A final twist in the Silverstone 500 would see a drive-through penalty handed to the lead pair for an earlier incident during a Full Course Yellow period. This narrowly dropped the #42 behind the new leader, and the final 30 minutes would deliver some of the closest racing of the weekend, as Kiern closed the gap and looked for an opportunity to regain the lead. Despite his best efforts in the closing laps, the chequered flag dropped after three hours of strategy calls, hard racing overcoming the pitstop compensation times with the #42 just 0.6s behind. The #18 Contempo Concept duo recovered to finish P14.

“It’s bittersweet, and I have really mixed emotions leaving the weekend. Our pace was lacking over the weekend, but the strategy was perfect, and the team made the right calls at the right times to put us in the position to fight for the win. Maximum championship points is a massive bonus, of course, but to make a mistake under the Full Course Yellows which cost us the win, and for that to be completely on me, is really disappointing. Lots of positives to take away from the weekend though, and focus is now on Oulton Park, where hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”

Charles Dawson, 2 Seas Motorsport driver, #42 Mercedes-AMG GT3.

“We arrived at the weekend on the back foot, carrying more weight and the maximum pitstop compensation, so we knew it was going to be tough. Ultimately, it was the team who has got us to the final position where we could fight at the end. If you look at most of the previous Silverstone 500s, they are won with a gamble. With lots of cautions and Safety Cars, we rolled the dice over the course of the race, and the team did a great job at every step, so a big thanks to them. It was a shame to have the drive-through at the end, and to not take the overall win, but its points that are important, not trophies, and we scored the maximum this weekend, so it is a huge win for us.”

Kiern Jewiss, 2 Seas Motorsport driver, #42 Mercedes-AMG GT3.

“A huge effort by both sides of the garage this weekend, and I am incredibly proud of the work and effort that have delivered results across the whole weekend. Kevin and Max scoring another front row start for the Silverstone 50, against a world-class grid of over 30 cars, and then amazing strategy work and effort from the engineers and crew to put Kiern and Charles in with a chance of taking the outright win is a huge achievement. We were unlucky with how our cards fell over the course of the race, but its how you deal with these situations which determine a race, and a championship, and the whole team, and all the drivers showed we have what it takes to fight at the front. Another maximum points result for the #42 is a great result to walk away from our second home race.”

Isa Al Khalifa, 2 Seas Motorsport team co-owner.

With the invitational cars not eligible to score championship points, the final result saw the #42 pair as the leading full-season entry. This means Charles and Kiern secure the maximum points for a second consecutive race, extending the lead at the top of the championship standings. Round 3 of the championship heads to Oulton Park, 23-26 May.

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