With four rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB gone and four
remaining, it seems a perfect time to take stock of what has happened so far. Dan
Harper currently holds a 20 point lead after winning four of the first eight
races.
Harper laid down an instant marker by grabbing pole position
for the opening race at Brands Hatch Indy and converting it into a lights to
flag victory. He also set the fastest lap to claim a maximum points haul from
the opening race. Lewis Plato was second, after forcing Seb Perez into a late
race mistake at Paddock Hill Bend. This meant the Redline Racing driver was
forced to settle for the final place on the podium in third, ahead of his team
mate George Gamble.
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| Harper started the season with a win and has led the championship ever since. |
In race two, the reverse grid draw put Gamble on pole and he
duly took full advantage by converting his advantageous grid slot into victory.
Lewis Plato made it a brace of second places for the weekend after jumping
Perez off the line. However, he was forced to defend vehemently from a hard
charging Harper in the closing stages. The JTR driver however, couldn’t find a
way through and was forced to settle for third. In Pro-Am, Karl Leonard claimed
a brace of victories, while in the Am class Peter Mangion and Justin Sherwood
took a victory apiece.
The next stop for the championship was the East Midlands and
Donington Park. The main news heading into the weekend was the return of 2014
champion Josh Webster to the series with Team Parker Racing. Webster wasted
little time in showing his intent by claiming pole position. However, he made a
poor start and fellow front row starter Gamble went all the way around the
outside of him at the first corner, Redgate, to take the lead. Harper moved
into second and Plato assumed third, leaving Webster fourth by the end of the
first lap. On lap nine, Harper made what proved to be the decisive move, diving
down the inside of Gamble into Redgate to take a lead he would never
relinquish. A lap later Plato swooped around the outside of Gamble for second
but as the rain began to fall on lap 11, Plato ran wide and off the road,
losing second to Gamble and third to Webster in the process. This would remain
the order at the flag.
In race two, Webster atoned for not making the most of his
pole position in the first race by winning from fourth on the grid. An
aggressive start saw the former champion up to second behind Dan Vaughan by the
time the pack had exited the Craner Curves. Following a short safety car period
after a collision between Rob Boston and Jamie Orton, Webster pulled off a well-executed
overtake at Coppice to take the lead from Vaughan. Plato, Harper, Gamble and
Roche would all also find a way past Vaughan in the remaining laps. However,
Webster stole the headlines with a dominant victory as he crossed the line
nearly five seconds clear of second placed Plato. Jack McCarthy dominated
Pro-Am with a double victory, whilst Justin Sherwood and John Ferguson shared
the wins in the Am category.
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| Josh Webster marked his return to the series with a win at Donington Park. |
The series moved north to Croft for rounds five and six of
the championship, and as always, the Darlington track really mixed up the title
battle and also provided a surprise race winner. In the opener Dan Harper
absolutely dominated from pole position and had a five second lead as he
rounded the final corner of the last lap. That was until he was a little eager
on the throttle as he tried to finish the race in style. Unfortunately for the
JTR man, his car rotated into a full 360 degree spin. However, Harper managed
to keep the engine running and got the car back pointing in the right direction
in just enough time to cross the line first, a mere four tenths of a second
ahead of Josh Webster. Jamie Orton took an impressive overall podium by
finishing third on the road while Seb Perez was fourth but the third Pro over
the line. The race was a disaster for two of Harper’s title rivals Gamble and
Plato as the two collided on the opening lap, this sent Gamble into a tyre
stack and then spearing into the barriers. This damaged his car so severely
that it ruled him out of the rest of the weekend. Plato was severely delayed
and limped home ninth overall.
The second race was the most chaotic and unpredictable of
the season so far as rain started to fall on the formation lap. It also saw
history made as Karl Leonard became the first non-Pro driver to win a race
outright since the Carrera Cup GB started in 2003. This resulted in everyone
but Perez, Webster and Harper diving for the pits for wet tyres instead of
taking the start. Jack McCarthy was the first driver out on wet tyres and he
quickly set about catching the three drivers on dry tyres. McCarthy soon
succeeded and assumed the lead of the race. Shortly after this, Webster pitted
for wets and a lap later both Harper and Perez followed suit. On lap seven an
off for John Ferguson at Clervaux caused the safety car to be deployed and
closed the field up. At the restart, a slight off track excursion from McCarthy
cost him the lead to Leonard. This would be a lead the Irishman would keep
until the flag to take his first ever Carrera Cup win. McCarthy was second from
Plato who won the Pro class ahead of Motorbase team mate Dan Vaughan. Webster
was fifth overall and third in Pro just ahead of points leader Harper. Peter
Kyle-Henney completed a double Am victory by just holding off Justin Sherwood.
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| Karl Leonard won for the first time in the Carrera Cup. |
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| Lewis Plato finished as the top Pro in a crazy second race at Croft and is Harper's closest championship rival. |
At Oulton Park order was restored as the Pro drivers
dominated proceedings. Harper took his third pole position of the year and as
before, made no mistake in converting it into an untroubled lights to flag
victory. Plato was second ahead of Gamble in third, while there was a season’s
best performance from Tom Roche in fourth. The reverse grid put newly
reclassified Pro Jamie Orton on pole from Roche but it was Gamble who dominated
the race. The Redline driver launched past Roche off the line and piled the pressure
on early leader Orton. This pressure eventually told as Gamble got alongside
coming out of Lodge and dived down the inside on the run into Old Hall. He then
set about building a dominant lead and was never troubled on his way to his
second victory of the season. Orton held on to secure a season’s best second
position. Lewis Plato was third but had to withstand race long pressure from
Harper in what was an intense and fascinating battle. Karl Leonard and Esmee
Hawkey shared the Pro-Am victories; this was Hawkey’s first win of the season.
In the Am category Peter Kyle-Henney and Justin Sherwood claimed a win apiece.
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| George Gamble has won twice this season including at the most recent round at Oulton Park. |
Championship Standings after eight rounds:
1)
Dan Harper (JTR) – 81pts
2)
Lewis Plato (Motorbase Performance)- 61pts
3)
George Gamble (Redline Racing)- 49pts
4)
Josh Webster (Team Parker Racing)- 40pts
5)
Dan Vaughan (Motorbase Performance)- 31pts
Pro-Am:
1)
Karl Leonard (Team Parker Racing)- 68pts
2)
Esmee Hawkey (GT Marques)- 59pts
3)
Jack McCarthy (Redline Racing)- 50pts
Am:
1)
Justin Sherwood (Team Parker Racing)- 81pts
2)
Peter Kyle-Henney (In2Racing)- 58pts
3)
John Ferguson (In2Racing)- 47pts
All photos courtesy of Porsche GB.
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