Millie Hart seals Nankang Tyre BMW Supercup Championship title at Silverstone
- LIAM REDFORD
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
A model of consistency throughout her first full-season of circuit racing, with two victories and every lap of the season completed, Millie Hart finished all three races inside the top-5 at the Silverstone finale on her way to the Nankang Tyre BMW Supercup Championship title.
In her first full-season of circuit racing, Millie Hart secured the Nankang Tyre BMW Supercup Championship title. Hart was a model of consistency throughout her debut campaign as she secured two victories and completed every lap of the season. In the season finale at Silverstone, Hart finished all three races inside the top-5 as she drove smartly on her way to the crown.
Hart entered the Silverstone season finale with her eyes firmly set on the 1 Series title after a superb campaign in the Nankang Tyre BMW Supercup Championship. Arriving at the final round with an 87-point overall championship lead, 42 points with dropped scores taken into account, a clean weekend would see Hart wrap up the title. However, strong finishes were required across the trio of races with both Simon Waterfall and Aydan Hassan remaining in realistic championship contention.
In her first full-season of circuit racing, Hart has impressed with both her speed and consistency setting her apart. Prior to Silverstone, Hart had secured two victories and finished on the podium in over three-quarters of the events to date. Her six fastest laps were also a series-high and she now returned to Silverstone where she had previously enjoyed successful on the National layout.
At round five of the championship, Hart was the top points scorer in the series as she achieved her second victory, in addition to two further podium finishes. Now tackling the International circuit for the season finale, Hart was looking to once again contend for top honours within the 1 Series division.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning and was a closely contested session with 25 cars out on track split between the 1 Series and CC classes. Hart did a nice job to improve upon her fastest time throughout the session as she built tyre temperature in low ambient conditions. Her quickest time of a 1:20.180 was set on the final lap of qualifying and placed her in fourth position. It was a good start to the weekend for Millie who put herself in contention to add to her tally of podium finishes.
Race one at Silverstone took place on Saturday afternoon with Hart starting from fourth position on the 1 Series grid. Hart made a clean start as she held fourth position with Darren Rickaby moving ahead, while Millie overtook Thorburn Astin. Championship rival Aydan Hassan was struggling with a technical issue, while Simon Waterfall was battling with newcomer James Reilly for the race lead.
On lap two, Astin fought back and reclaimed fourth position with Hart settling into fifth. The leading quintet began breaking away and therefore Hart had little pressure behind and could focus forward on mounting a challenge for the podium. By lap four, she was lapping faster than the next three drivers who were beginning to battle up ahead.
By the mid-point of the race, Reilly and Waterfall began edging away at the head of the field while Rickaby, Astin and Hart were fighting over the final step on the rostrum. Hart was doing a good job to remain within a second of Astin ahead and therefore she was in prime position to capitalise should a mistake be made ahead.
At the end of lap nine, Millie remained just a second away from the podium as the 1 Series drivers were utilising the slipstream to remain in touch with one another. The following lap saw a close battle emerge between the trio with Hart keeping her car clean while she remained in fifth. Completing a smart opening race without incident, Hart took the chequered flag in fifth position to bank valuable points towards her championship battle.
The second race of the weekend was held later on Saturday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the results of race one, Hart lined up from fifth in the 1 Series class. Millie drove another clean opening lap as Hassan moved ahead with Hart settling into sixth position. As the battles for the podium positions emerged, Hart knew thar her main priority was to race smartly and bank the required championship points.
On lap three, Hart was able to move forward as she overtook Reilly for fifth position in class. Millie backed this up with a new personal best time of a 1:19.763 which was the quickest lap she had set throughout the entire event. Nonetheless, Reilly remained in close proximity as he benefited from the slipstream and ran just half a second behind Hart.
The two drivers switched positions on lap six with Reilly moving up to fifth with Hart back in sixth position. Reilly and Hart then began catching Astin and Rickaby and these four drivers ran nose-to-tail as they battled for position. Hart continued to get stuck in despite her championship position and on lap ten, she overtook Rickaby for a position inside the top-5. A strong end to the race saw Hart cross the line in fifth position, just three-quarters of a second away from a spot on the podium.
For the season finale, the grid positions were based on the results of race two with Hart starting from fifth position. Hart made a controlled start and although she fell to seventh at the end of lap one, securing a clean finish was her top priority. Despite being behind both Darren Rickaby and Martin Tolley, Hart was looking to move forward should the opportunities arise.
By the end of lap two, Millie was just a quarter of a second behind Tolley as she looked to shape for a move. After assessing her rival’s weaknesses, Hart overtook Tolley on lap four to claim sixth position in the 1 Series class. With a five second gap ahead of her, Hart could now focus on setting fast and consistent lap times as she aimed to end her campaign on the podium.
On lap four, Hart set a personal best time and she was now catching Rickaby and Astin by around one second per lap. After Astin retired on lap eight, Hart was back into the top-5 and Millie was now just a second behind Rickaby. As the pair began to get into CC class traffic at the conclusion of the race, Hart drove smartly in order to secure another top-5 finish. Hart took the chequered flag just one second behind Rickaby to secure a fifth-place result and with it, Millie secured the Nankang Tyre BMW Supercup Championship title.
It was a mature weekend of racing for Hart as she ended her first full-season of circuit racing as a champion. Completing 100% of the laps over the course of the campaign, Millie’s speed and consistency set her apart from her rivals. After making a superb impressive throughout the 2025 season, Hart will now be looking to make further progress as she continues her motorsport journey.