Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Silverstone race report
Michael Meadows won both Porsche Carrera Cup GB races at Silverstone to close the gap to Josh Webster to just four points in the chase for the 2014 championship.
After losing out on a near-certain win thanks to a mechanical issue last time out at Rockingham, Meadows conceded he had to secure every available point in the remaining four races, starting with this weekend’s two encounters at the home of British motorsport.
The meeting started well for the Samsung Smart UHD TV Racing driver, as Meadows topped the timesheets in Friday practice before securing the two points on offer for pole position in races one and two.
However, alongside Meadows for both the races would be perennial 2014 rival (and Total 911 columnist) Josh Webster, as the Carrera Cup GB rookie set the second fastest time in qualifying, with Paul Rees and Victor Jimenez only a further few hundredths of a second behind on a highly competitive grid.
Race one was a largely uneventful affair as Meadows – a two-time Carrera Cup GB champion – initially edged away from Webster, while Jimenez jumped Rees into the first corner after making the better standing start.
As the raced progressed, Webster’s pace improved, allowing the Nine Group-supported racer to close in on Meadows. Unfortunately for the 2014/15 Scholarship winner, he was unable to find a way passed the experience Porsche racer, settling for second.
Behind, Rees had been dropping away in fourth, allowing Jimenez to take a relatively lonely run to third overall, as Jordan Witt and Kelvin Flether secured victories in the Pro-Am1 and Pro-Am2 classes respectively.
As has become standard procedure this season, the second encounter would feature a rolling start and, like at Rockingham, Rees proved to be more than adept at the American-style starting format.
The In2 Racing driver, staring the second race from third, held off the attentions of Jimenez, before diving up the inside of Webster into Copse to move into second as Meadows (unlike Rockingham) held onto his lead from Rees.
Webster was pushed wide, with a little bit of contact allowing Jimenez into third, pushing the 20-year-old championship hopeful into fourth. Initially it looked like the touch to his Redline Racing 911 GT3 Cup car would hamper Webster yet, as the laps ticked down, he gradually moved back onto the tail of Jimenez.
The Spaniard’s defence was strong, withstanding the pressure until lap 21 when Webster dived up the inside at Brooklands. Jimenez tried to cut back and was on the outside for Luffield when the Spaniard tried to brake later than his young Redline Racing teammate.
It wouldn’t work though, as Jimenez ran wide onto the marbles, spinning into the gravel and out of the race, leaving Webster a lonely run to third, his 17th podium finish of the season.
Up front, Rees was able to close onto the rear wing of Meadows’ 911 GT3 Cup car but couldn’t get into a position to make a pass, leaving the latter to take win number ten of the 2014 to close to within four points of Webster as the Carrera Cup GB circus heads to Brands Hatch for the final round in two weeks time.
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