My first podium of the Porsche Carrera Cup season may not have been the best I have ever had, but it was among the sweetest.
Article by Rory Butcher, Photo by Malcolm Griffiths
My first podium of the Porsche Carrera Cup season may not have been the best I have ever had, but it was among the sweetest.
It has been a tough start to the year, but the team have backed me every step of the way and third place at a glorious Oulton Park was me giving them something back.
It would not be a Porsche Carrera Cup meeting without their being some excitement, and Dean Stoneman seemed to be very close to my car all weekend. Ultimately, he helped me get a fourth and a third place.
Qualifying was good. After stringing together some really consistent and tidy laps we were looking set for a front row start until Lloyd and Gelzinas banged in a couple of blinders in the dying seconds of the session. We ended up fourth for both races and I was quite happy with that as I can race from there.
I got a good start in race one, but ended up boxed in between Gelzinas and Lloyd, allowing Stoneman to pass me in to Old Hall Corner. I managed to get the place back in to the tight Island Hairpin and regain fourth place. Then Gelzinis went off ahead of us and I was promoted to third on lap three but with extreme pressure from a very fast Dean Stoneman. He dived up my inside in to Lodge corner and I ran a wider line to give him racing room, but he was carrying too much entry speed and clipped my rear wheel causing me to spin from third place. I quickly rejoined in seventh and battled back up to a steady fifth place on the road.The stewards stepped in with a 20-second penalty for Stoneman, dropping him back to fifth and that put me back in fourth.
In the second race the temperatures were hitting the roof in the cockpit and it was destined to be a tough race. I got a blistering start and shot past Stoneman into third before the first corner. I locked in behind Lloyd and aimed to chase down the leaders but once again Dean, who was on new tyres, was extremely quick and hounded me for third. I started to defend my position which cost us both time. He then made a superb dive up the inside in to the Island Hairpin so I gave him space to take the position. I had a poor rhythm in the early laps and struggled to cling on to Deans pace. But the Celtic Speed car felt better as the race went on and my lap times started to match the guys in front. Stoneman was visibly struggling ahead which spurred me on to push even harder and as the gap became smaller the team were waving me on at the pit wall. I arrived on Deans tail with a few laps to go and made a few moves to overtake. I kept the pressure on and he then locked his brakes in to the Island Hairpin causing his car to run wide and I snuck past for a spot on the podium. I had two laps to bring the car home and I couldn't stop smiling!
There was a lot of relief at the end as I have been waiting to stand on that podium and say thanks to my sponsors and everyone who has supported me on ITV4 for a long time.
I hope that is the turning point in the season and we get the results we know we are capable of achieving. Next up is Croft, and that was a sensational circuit for me last year. I can’t wait to get back down there.
Photo by Malcolm Griffiths
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