fbpx

2014 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season preview

Brands Hatch, the short yet technical Kent circuit, will play host to the opening two races of the 2014 Porsche Carrera Cup GB this weekend. So, with racing columnist Josh Webster making his Carrera Cup debut, Total 911 casts an eye over the season ahead.

20-year-old Webster looks set to play a prominent role in Carrera Cup GB proceedings this year. Despite his lack of GT experience (let alone 911 GT3 Cup seat time) the young Briton has settled in well during testing.

Josh Webster Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Despite his inexperience, Josh Webster has showed impressive speed in testing.

At both the Carrera Cup GB media day, and yesterday’s two official practice sessions, Josh has been right in the hunt pace-wise. It would be safe to assume that wins are very definitely on the cards this season, despite Josh’s modest pre-season expectations.

It is even possible that Webster could feature in the battle for victory this weekend at Brands Hatch. However, he will face stiff competition, most notably from reigning double champion, and new Redline Racing teammate, Michael Meadows.

Josh Webster
Webster is still keeping his expectations in check ahead of his Carrera Cup GB debut.

Meadows is very much the man to beat when it comes to Porsche 911 racing in the UK and, after deciding to return for a third title tilt, he has been the pacesetter in much of the pre-season testing. Furthermore, his years of experience are likely to see him make few mistakes across the course of 2014.

As a one-off for Brands Hatch, Total 911’s Supercup columnist, Ben Barker is to make a guest appearance in the #0 Porsche GB car. Barker has a year’s experience of the new 991-type machine and it showed in practice, as he topped the timesheets at the end of Friday practice.

Michael Meadows Carrera Cup GB
Michael Meadows is back and hunting for a third successive Carrera Cup GB crown.

However, as an invitational entry, he won’t be eligible for points, making him a tricky proposition when Meadows and Webster face racing car-to-car with him. He’s certainly a rather big cat amongst the pigeons this weekend.

While Meadows and Webster start as favourites amongst the full-season drivers, it would be foolish to discount Victor Jimenez. The 2013 Pro-Am1 champion steps up to the Pro class this year, and will race alongside the two young Britons at Redline Racing.

Victor Jimenez Redline Racing
Redline Racing have also signed Victor Jimenez for 2014. The Spaniard steps up to the Pro class this year.

New Pro drivers for 2014 also include Paul Rees (an ex-single seater racer) and Jake Hill (runner up in the 2010 Ginetta Junior Championship). Both will drive for In2 Racing, a team who has made significant progress over the winter break.

In the Pro-Am1 class, Karl Leonard steps up from ProAm2 and looks the definite man to beat. His speed is in no doubt, even mixing it with some of the Pro class drivers in Friday’s test sessions, so expect him to get stronger and stronger throughout the year. Overall podiums are definitely a possibility for the Irishman.

Karl Leonard Carrera Cup GB
The man to beat in Pro-Am1 this year looks to be Irishman, Karl Leonard.

Comments (0)