The three-hour, 500-kilometre race around the British Grand Prix venue is the jewel in the crown for the British GT calendar, and both Nick and Scott head into the race on strong form with their Team Parker Racing-run Mercedes-AMG GT4.
The pair sit second in the GT4 Pro-Am championship after a strong run last time out at Snetterton, during which they narrowly missed their second outright podium in race one. Their performances did net second and fourth in the Pro-Am class, however, meaning they’re just three points off the GT4 Pro-Am points summit and seventh in the overall championship
With the fast, sweeping turns of Silverstone expected to better suit the four-litre biturbo V8 Mercedes-AMG, both drivers are in confident mood ahead of Sunday’s outing.
Nick says: “The Silverstone 500 is the biggest race of the year for British GT, and it’s a demanding one, but we head into it in a good place I think.
“The team is doing a great job with the car, I’m driving better than I ever have, and Scott is getting the most out of the Mercedes-AMG in every session, so we haven’t got much to be disappointed about.
“Snetterton was a difficult weekend as the car lacked some outright power due to the series’ performance equalisation rules, but we came out of it with a good haul of points and we’re nicely in the mix for the championship. Now we must carry that forward.
“Silverstone is a physical track, with a lot of ballsy corners on it, and the stints are longer there so it will be a gruelling one. But I’ve tested the Mercedes-AMG around there and it’s a much easier car to drive than the old Porsche was. We have to aim high, try not to make any mistakes, and hopefully we can be right in the mix at the end of the three hours.”
Scott says: “Silverstone will be a real challenge for us, but I’m feeling confident. At Snetterton we struggled for straight-line speed after our turbo was turned down, and we’ll have the same problem at Silverstone. At least we can make up more time as Silverstone is less stop-start than Snetterton, so we can claw some time back through the high-speed stuff. However, I still think we’ll be battling out of the second-gear corners like the hairpin and the club complex against the more powerful McLarens, BMWs and Aston Martins.
“Regardless, I’m confident in the team and really confident in what Nick’s been doing this year so far. The longer races bring strategy more into play and that plays nicely to Team Parker’s strengths. I think we can go out and hunt for the Pro-Am win this weekend.”
