McBride Leads Championship After 2 Rounds

Silverstone - 20th May, 2023

Round 2 of the BRSCC Supersport Endurance Cup Championship, at the world-famous Silverstone circuit was a titanic race. Using the epic, full Grand Prix circuit of 3.66 miles (5.89km) is always a challenge for any driver and vehicle. A track designed for Formula 1 means it's fast, has plenty of run-off and to get a good result you really have to push yourself and your car to the limit.

Its easy to lose time with the track being so long; one small mistake of 1/10th of a second could impact you by half a second with the long straights. To hook up a good lap is crucial for qualifying. Over the course of a 2-hour race, it becomes slightly less important especially with two mandatory pitstops that could change the situation on track dramatically if safety cars are involved.

After testing on Thursday proved the car was capable, and I proved I could hook up several good laps, Julian spent much of Friday in bed ill, not certain he'd be in a fit enough state to make the grid for Saturday's race. Like all racing drivers though, if there's a race you're going to find a way . . .

Saturday with barely four hours sleep, qualifying was going to be tough. After Round 1, having a target on your back is a challenge as everyone is out to beat you.

Speaking with Julian before qualifying, when asked how he was feeling, he replied "Well, I don't feel great, pretty tired but once the adrenaline kicks in I'll be fine; I'm jut going to go out and drive safely, keep it on the black stuff and see if we can hook up a lap!".

It turned out to be a fantastic lap giving him P1 for Group Pro B, on the second row of the grid behind only three Group Pro A cars.

After a reasonable start Julian managed to stave off attacks from the Seat Supercopa and the Vauxhall VXR to stretch out a a small margin but was slowly reeled in by Simon Mauger in the Vauxhall who eventually caught and passed Julian several laps in. Running the M3 with a full fuel load makes the early stage of a race hard but Julian kept pace right up until the first safety car came out just before half an hour in.

Both the Vauxhall and Julian decided to pit as soon as the pit window was open on 30 minutes, a good decision on both parts. With both back out but way down the order, Julian had a full tank again and had sufficient fuel to run to the end, needing only to complete another mandatory pitstop any time up until 15 minutes from the end.

Slowly and steadily fighting his way back towards the front saw Julian manage to get within spitting distance and as luck would have it, another safety car with 25 minute to go enabled him to complete his second mandatory stop. Unfortunately Julian lost out to the Lotus Exige of Leon Bidgway but exited the pits with a lighter car and a run to the end.

After passing most cars and fighting back to 3rd overall (and 3rd in class) Julian continued to chase down a green BMW M3 GTR and eventually had what can only be described as a titanic battle over a lap. Having chased and got within spitting distance of the GTR before the Wellington Straight, it was a determined race down to Brooklands with Julian pushing his M3 around the outside of Luffield cutting back to get a run on the GTR out of Woodcote all the way along the National Straight. With neither driver backing off, Julian pushed his M3 around the outside of Copse, a scary move for any driver in any car but neither driver would give.

Exiting Copse with too much understeer Julian had to lift and allowed the GTR to edge its nose in front and then ensued a duel all the way through Maggotts and Becketts, side by side with Julian just managing to edge in front on the exit of Chapel onto the Hangar Straight. From there it was a race to the finish and with insufficient time to catch Leon Bidgway's Lotus Exige 2nd in Class and 2nd overall was a fantastic result for Julian.

"What a brilliant race and to race side by side with Paul Browes in the GTR and to give each other enough respect and room is what racing is about. That was epic!! I hoped for a podium this weekend so to get 2nd is amazing."

Julian also took the honours and an extra championship point for the fastest lap in Pro B.

On to Donington in June for Round 3.