Julian McBride Charges From 17th to Seventh at Silverstone

Julian McBride produced one of his strongest drives of the 2026 Britcar Endurance Championship at Silverstone, climbing ten places from 17th on the grid to finish seventh overall and fifth in GT before being named Sunoco Driver of the Day.

After the frustrations of Snetterton five weeks earlier, where changing weather and a catalogue of mechanical problems contributed to what McBride described as the most challenging race of his career, Silverstone provided a much more positive afternoon for the Geoff Steel Racing driver.

The seventh round of the championship took place on Silverstone's short, fast 1.85-mile International layout, with another 90-minute race ahead of McBride and the Britcar field.

Before then, however, the weather had once again given McBride and the rest of the grid plenty to think about. Light drizzle left the circuit damp and slippery for both practice and qualifying, creating a difficult tyre decision as teams weighed up whether there was enough grip for slicks or whether wets remained the safer option. The approach into Vale and Club proved particularly troublesome, with several competitors struggling for grip as they tried to find the limit.

McBride initially opted for wet tyres and showed good pace in the conditions during practice, finishing eighth overall and fourth among the GT runners with a best lap of 1:17.328.

Conditions continued to evolve during qualifying. McBride remained on wets as the circuit gradually improved, but towards the end of the ten-minute session the balance finally began to swing towards slick tyres. By the time the crossover arrived, there simply wasn't enough time to pit, change tyres and get back out for a representative flying lap.

His 1:15.066 therefore left him 17th overall and 11th in GT, giving him plenty of work to do when the race got underway later in the day.

The possibility of another wet race remained right up until the start. Light mizzle returned for around ten minutes beforehand, raising the prospect of another late tyre decision, but it eventually passed and there was no need for wet tyres.

McBride made a positive start, initially gaining three places before completing the opening lap in 16th overall and tenth in GT. He moved into 15th when one of the Challenge-class Porsches, which had started on wet tyres, headed for the pits and continued to make steady progress as the opening stint developed.

Thirteen minutes into the race there was real drama in the pit lane as the number 42 Vortice Motorsport Ginetta arrived with the car on fire. McBride, meanwhile, had climbed to 12th overall and eighth in GT by the 15-minute mark.

A Safety Car followed shortly afterwards when Geoff Steel Racing teammate Peter Moulsdale stopped out on circuit. With the pit window open, McBride took the opportunity to complete his first mandatory stop while the field was circulating at reduced speed.

Moulsdale was recovered and able to continue, albeit a couple of laps down, while McBride found himself right on the back of Christopher Murphy's BMW M3 as the Safety Car returned to the pits with around one hour and seven minutes remaining.

By the end of the first racing lap following the restart, McBride was up to tenth overall and seventh in GT.

From there, he continued to make his way through the field. With 53 minutes remaining, McBride had reached seventh overall and fifth in class. Twenty minutes later he was running sixth on the road and third in GT, although the developing pit-stop strategies meant McBride and several of the cars around him still had another mandatory visit to make.

As those strategies continued to unfold, McBride climbed as high as fourth overall with 25 minutes remaining while still occupying third in GT. It wasn't a representative position with another stop outstanding, but it reflected how far he had come from 17th on the grid and put him firmly in contention for a strong result once the final pit cycle had played out.

After completing his remaining mandatory stop, McBride resumed in seventh overall and fifth in GT.

This time, there was no late mechanical heartbreak. McBride reeled off the remaining laps and took the chequered flag after 72 laps in seventh overall and fifth in GT, completing a ten-place climb from his starting position. His fastest lap of 1:09.880 came on lap 44, with the official results recording an average race speed of 87.59mph.

It was a result that represented a considerable turnaround from a difficult qualifying session, but McBride's afternoon still had one final surprise. Having gone along to watch the class trophies being presented after the race, he was caught completely off guard when his own name was announced as the Sunoco Driver of the Day.

"That was much more like it! After everything we went through at Snetterton, it was great to have a race where I could concentrate on driving, making progress and enjoying myself again.

"Starting 17th meant there was plenty of work to do. We know we're not in the fastest car out there, but we're working hard to make the most of what we've got and I think today showed that. We made good use of the Safety Car for the first stop, kept ourselves in the mix and it was really satisfying to come away with seventh overall and fifth in class.

"The Driver of the Day award was a complete surprise. I'd gone along to watch the class trophies being handed out and genuinely wasn't expecting anything myself, so to suddenly hear my name called out was a really lovely moment. I definitely wasn't expecting that one!

"There's been a huge amount of work to get the car back to where it needed to be after Snetterton, so a massive thank you to everyone at Geoff Steel Racing. We know where we are and what we're working with, but we're getting everything we can from it. I'm really pleased with what we achieved today."

The result continued an impressive first Britcar season for McBride, adding another top-ten finish to a campaign that has already included an overall podium at Snetterton and multiple GT podium finishes. Silverstone's ten-place charge and Sunoco Driver of the Day award provided a particularly satisfying response to the difficulties of the previous round, with fifth place in GT also adding a further 19 championship points to his season tally.

McBride will now turn his attention to the final round of the 2026 Britcar Endurance Championship at Brands Hatch on 7th November. The season finale will bring a different challenge, with two 45-minute races around the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, the second taking place into the darkness.