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The entry for this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship has both quality and quantity with more potential race winners than ever before, as an influx of new drivers join established aces like Tim Harvey (Champion in 2008 and 2010), James Sutton (Champion in 2007) and Michael Caine (Championship Runner-up in 2008 and 2010).
This season also sees the introduction of the latest model Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car – based for the first time on the RS version of the 911 GT3 road car - and all drivers will compete in identical models of this stunning 450 hp car. This is the quickest version of the 911 ever seen in the Carrera Cup GB and will ensure that the Championship retains its position as the fastest one-make category in Britain.
Porsche Carrera Cup GB As well as the battle for overall glory, the contests in the Pro-Am1 and Pro-Am2 categories and the Team Championship will be major features of the season as drivers and teams battle for a total prize fund of over £160,000. In addition, the overall champion, the Pro-Am1 champion and the team manager of the champion team will have the use of a road-going Porsche 911 for a year.
While Harvey, Caine and Sutton are the established benchmarks, at least six other drivers start the season with race wins in their sights. Harvey (Oxford) and Caine (Newmarket) have teamed up at Motorbase Performance, while Sutton (London) and Michael Meadows (Banbury) are in the SAS-backed squad at Red Line Racing.
Another strong contender from the Red Line team is 2011 Carrera Cup Scholar Benji Hetherington (Hulme Walfield, Cheshire), while the Team Parker Racing line-up has a new look this season with Richard Plant (Sheffield) and Sam Tordoff (Leeds) to the fore.
Other returning teams include Celtic Speed, with Rory Butcher (Kirkcaldy, Fife) as their young hotshot and Lithuania-based Juta Racing with Jonas Gelzinis set to challenge for race wins as he builds on the experience of last season.
Among the Pro-Am1 and Pro-Am2 categories, a number of rapid drivers will be challenging for the podiums with drivers like Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman), George Richardson (Nether Alderley, Cheshire), Steve Parish (London), Alex Martin (Templecombe, Somerset), Andrew Shelley (Northallerton) and series returnee Derek Pierce (West Kilbride) likely to battle for Pro-Am1. The Pro-Am2 field includes Celtic Speed duo George Brewster (Edinburgh) and Tommy Dreelan (Aberdeen), Keith Webster (Liphook, Hants), Tautvydas Barstys Lithuania), Richard Denny (London) and Swiss racer Daniele Perfetti.
James Sutton and SAS Red Line team head the field at first Porsche Carrera Cup GB test The SAS-backed Red Line Racing cars of James Sutton and Michael Meadows topped the times during the major pre-season test day for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton on 22 March. As teams and drivers mastered the new ‘300’ circuit at the Norfolk venue, Sutton and Meadows set the pace in what is shaping up to be the most competitive season in the Championship’s history. With seven-tenths of a second covering the top six drivers on the new three-mile track, the pace-setters were an intriguing mix of established Carrera Cup aces and exciting newcomers. As drivers did new tyre runs later in the afternoon, Red Line was the last of the three big teams to send their drivers out with fresh tyres. Sutton and Meadows worked together, with Sutton running just ahead of his team mate to set the standard at 1m50.245s. With Meadows lapping 0.164s behind, it was an impressive display. “We seem to be in really good shape,” said Sutton. “It was important to get a really good sense of what the car is doing and this bodes well for the opening races at Brands Hatch.” Meadows was equally pleased with the day. “It’s been close all through. James and I like a similar set-up and we found a lot of time on the new rubber.” Third fastest, right on the pace of the SAS cars, was an impressive performance from Carrera Cup newcomer Sam Tordoff (Tea

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Porsche Carrera Cup Race Season Set to be More Exciting Than Ever was originally published by Honestjohn News Feed. Read the full story by clicking here.