2015 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup preview: Silverstone, Great Britain
British Porsche 911 fans won’t know who to cheer for in this weekend’s fourth round of the 2015 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup as no less than eight racing Brits take to the grid at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.
As well as Supercup regular Ben Barker, who will look to add to his Monaco podium at his home race and strengthen his challenge for this year’s title, seven regular racers from the Carrera Cup GB have been granted guest slots to ply their trade against some of the best Porsche racers in the world.
Leading the charge are Carrera Cup championship protagonists, Dan Cammish (who has won six out of this year’s eight races) and 2014 Carrera Cup GB champion, Josh Webster.
Cammish – who will drive for his usual Redline Racing squad – has not entered a Porsche Supercup race before, although he has already raced against the likes of Michael Ammermüller and Philipp Eng this year after a one-off Carrera Cup Deutschland appearance at the Lausitzring.
Total 911 columnist, Webster meanwhile competed in last year’s Supercup race at Silverstone, eventually finishing 18th after starting down the field thanks to mistiming his final run during a drying qualifying session.
Also joining the Supercup action at Silverstone will be Webster’s Team Parker Racing teammate, Stephen Jelley, while Jake Hill, Tom Sharp and Jack Falla all having their first experience of Porsche’s premier one-make series. Graeme Mundy will, like Webster, also return after last year’s cameo.
Of the main Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup runners, Philipp Eng enjoys a healthy eight-point lead over Christian Engelhart after finishing second last time out at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
The Austrian, driving for Project 1 again in 2015, has yet to win a Supercup race this year though and will be looking to rectify this fact at the 3.66-mile Silverstone circuit, a track where he only finished tenth last season after problems in the damp qualifying session.
Engelhart faired no better last year, only able to finish 13th, although the German racer’s form has been much improved in 2015 after staying on at the famous Konrad Motorsport team.
After winning the opening race of the year in Barcelona, Ammermüller’s form has gradually been worsening, finishing fifth in Monaco and ninth in Austria (although the latter result could have been a podium if it hadn’t been for a collision with Porsche Junior, Connor de Phillippi).
Of the top three title contenders, the German enjoyed the best result at Silverstone in 2014, finishing fourth behind winner, Clemens Schmid (who is absent in 2015), Kuba Giermaziak, Earl Bamber and de Phillippi.
Total 911 Supercup columnist, Barker – driving for the MOMO Megatron team – has once again shown glimpses of race winning speed in 2015, especially during his superb Monaco performance.
Qualifying his been the Briton’s nemesis during his last two Supercup campaigns though, and he will need to put that right at Silverstone if he is in with a chance of taking a maiden win in front of his home crowd.
After a non-points scoring result in Austria (the result of a clash with Porsche Junior, Sven Müller), Barker has fallen to seventh in the points standings and will need a strong haul at the home of British motorsport to boost his hopes of a good championship position come the end of the season.
Practice gets underway at 4:45pm GMT on Friday, with qualifying set for 11:25am on Saturday. Sunday’s 13-lap race will see the red lights go out at 10:45am on the morning of the British Grand Prix.
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