News

Dan Cammish (Redline Racing) maintains a slender advantage to lead the fastest single marque GT racing championship in the UK as it heads into the second half of the season for rounds nine and ten at Snetterton. The strongest weekend yet for Dino Zamparelli (GT Marques) last time out at Croft and a guest appearance for several of the top contenders at Silverstone’s round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup suggest that the remainder of the season is anything but decided.

After seeing his championship challenge dented by a perfect weekend for Cammish at Oulton Park, Zamparelli responded at Croft with a perfect weekend of his own. Taking a pair of pole positions, the Bristol-based driver’s first in the championship, Zamparelli converted them into two race wins and fastest laps.

The close-fought nature of the contest between the two protagonists goes beyond the three points separating them in the championship. While Cammish can claim the advantage in race wins – five to three – Zamparelli has the edge on race pace, with five fastest laps to his credit compared to Cammish’s three. Over a single qualifying lap the balance shifts back to the reigning champion, six pole positions to Zamparelli’s two.

As the pressure mounts on the duelling duo, neither able to afford a single mistake, the chasing pack are closing in. Former race winner Stephen Jelley (Team Parker Racing) enters the second half of the season as the third-placed driver. The Porsche Carrera Cup GB veteran looks overdue to get onto the top step of the podium for the first time since 2011, having come so close once already in 2016.

A guest entry for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in support of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone saw seven 2016 Porsche Carrera Cup GB drivers take on the best in the world. Leading the charge was Tom Sharp (IDL Racing), the 2015 Rookie champion challenging for a podium finish during a rain-affected thriller in front of over 100,000 spectators. Adding to the drama were the performances of Tom Oliphant (Team Redline) and Charlie Eastwood (Redline Racing), who showed exceptional pace and racecraft as they recovered from a compromised qualifying session with storming drives through the talented field.

Hot on the heels of the Pro category are the Pro-Am1 contenders, who arrive at Snetterton with Euan McKay (IN2 Racing) holding the advantage. The Rookie driver carries the momentum of four consecutive Pro-Am1 category wins, but both reigning Pro-Am2 champion John McCullagh (Redline Racing) and newcomer Sean Hudspeth (Parr Motorsport) will be pushing hard to close the gap.

Just one point separates the chasing pair in their championship battle and consistency looks to be key, with only McCullagh having finished every round from those attending at Snetterton. Dan McKay (IN2 Racing) could be another to take the fight to brother Euan, with whom he shares the same number of fastest laps, if he can convert his speed and overtaking ability into a consistent performance across every session.

A wild card for the category will be G-Cat Racing’s Greg Caton. The multiple race-winning historic racer and G-Cat Racing team manager will be replacing the team’s absent Peter Jennings for both rounds at Snetterton.

Pro-Am2 looks poised for another close weekend as just one point separates the top two with eight rounds gone. Impressing in his first season, Mark Radcliffe (Intersport Racing) gained invaluable experience from his time with the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at Silverstone and will be making the most of this as he resumes his contest with Tautvydas Barstys (Juta Racing) and Peter Kyle-Henney (Parr Motorsport).

All three have been category winners in 2016, but after a season away Kyle-Henney won at Croft and will be looking for further progress up the rankings. Rejoining after missing rounds seven and eight will be fast newcomer Adrian Barwick (Team Parker Racing), already a podium visitor and keen for more.

In 2015 Cammish was the form driver at Snetterton, but the form for this season’s visit to the Norfolk circuit is much harder to read. In its first half, the 2016 championship has seen close lap times and even closer racing, with Cammish, Zamparelli and Jelley using their experience to good effect. As the chasing pack, led by Porsche GB 2016/2017 Scholar Charlie Eastwood, begins to find its rhythm, the established order could change in a fraction of a second. Looking the most likely contender to do this at Snetterton is undoubtedly Tom Sharp, his strong Supercup performance boosting confidence ahead of a return to a circuit where he finished second to Cammish last year.

Rounds nine and ten will take place on Sunday 31 July at 09.15 and 15.25 respectively, with live coverage on ITV4. Follow the battle for the championship at @CarreraCupGB on Twitter and @carreracupgb on Instagram.

Points standings

1. Dan Cammish Redline Racing 152
2. Dino Zamparelli GT Marques 149
3. Stephen Jelley Team Parker Racing 110

Pro-Am1

1. Euan McKay IN2 Racing 74
2. Sean Hudspeth Parr Motorsport 61
3. John McCullagh Redline Racing 60

Pro-Am2

1. Tautvydas Barstys Juta Racing 68
2. Mark Radcliffe Intersport Racing 67
3. Peter Kyle-Henney Parr Motorsport 63

Ends

For more information, please contact the Porsche press office team:

Kate Gregory: Press Office Assistant
Email: kate.gregory@porsche.co.uk
Tel: 0118 916 5050

Rob Durrant: Motorsport Press Officer
E-mail: rob.durrant@porsche.co.uk
Tel: 0118 925 2855
Mobile: 07342 084 853

Rob Punshon: Senior Press Officer
E-mail: rob.punshon@porsche.co.uk
Tel: 0118 925 2733
Mobile: 07881 008950

Nick Perry: Product Affairs Manager
Email: nick.perry@porsche.co.uk
Tel: 0118 925 2721
Mobile: 07775 860 291

Angus Fitton: Head of PR
Email: angus.fitton@porsche.co.uk
Tel: 0118 925 2720
Mobile: 07824 623 874

Press website: presse.porsche.de and newspress.co.uk
Press email: press@porsche.co.uk
Press Twitter: @PorscheGB @CarreraCupGB
Porsche News: newsroom.porsche.com

Editors’ Note:

Porsche can claim more than 30,000 race victories in almost every motor sports series worldwide, and while many of these successes have been achieved with immensely powerful specialist race cars like the evocative 917 and 956, the iconic 911 sports coupe is the bedrock on which the peerless racing reputation of the Stuttgart marque has been built.

The 911 demonstrates perfectly the Porsche philosophy of not only building sports cars in order to win races, but also to gain development know-how that can be incorporated into the evolution of its road cars. Successive generations of the rear-engined 911 have been honed on the race circuit since its debut in 1963, with customers benefitting from continuous improvements in key dynamic areas such as engine performance, braking and aerodynamics.

Porsche is the world's largest manufacturer of racing cars; the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car competes in the Mobil1 Supercup, the world’s fastest international one-make Championship, which supports Formula One Grands Prix. The 911 GT3 Cup also entertains spectators around the world racing in the many domestic Carrera Cup Championships in Germany, Asia, France, Italy, Japan, Scandinavia and Great Britain. The all-new GT3 R is the first step for drivers moving up to GT racing, while the 911 RSR is the standard-bearer for the Porsche Works teams in international blue riband events like Daytona and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

With a record number of overall victories, Porsche is the most successful manufacturer in Le Mans history. In 2014, Porsche returned to Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with the factory-run 919 Hybrid sports prototype race car in the top LMP1 category, and scored its first outright victory in its debut WEC season in the final race in Brazil.

The 919 Hybrid LMP1 proves the ‘downsizing’ concept in featuring a unique two-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine, supplemented by two energy recovery systems, which combined develop almost 900 hp.

Porsche scored its 17th and latest success in Le Mans last June when Britain’s Nick Tandy, New Zealand driver Earl Bamber and German F1 star Nico Hulkenberg took the chequered flag in their 919 Hybrid LMP1 after 24 hours of flat out racing. Chasing this trio across the line was the second 919 Hybrid of Brendon Hartley (New Zealand), Mark Webber (Australia) and Timo Bernhard (Germany) to deliver a 1-2 result for the Stuttgart team. This trio ultimately clinched the 2015 Drivers’ World Endurance Championship, and the WEC Manufacturers’ Championship, for Porsche.