Dan Harper (JTR), the 17-year-old Porsche GB 2018 / 2019 Junior, claimed the second pole position of his Carrera Cup GB career in qualifying for round eleven of the championship at Knockhill. Harper was one of only three drivers to lap the unique Scottish circuit in under 49 seconds, he will start tomorrow’s race alongside team mate Lewis Plato (JTR). Less than a second covered the top eleven drivers on the grid in qualifying, the overall top three were separated by just 0.144s.
Early into the dry and sunny session championship leader Dino Zamparelli (Redline Racing) and title rival Tio Ellinas (Slidesports Engineering) traded fastest overall lap times with Harper and Plato, the group often beating one another’s times by small margins. After the first set of runs Plato was the first driver to lap the 1.3-mile circuit in under 49s, yet he was quickly matched by Zamparelli and Harper. However, in the dying moments of the session Harper improved his time twice in quick succession to move 0.112s clear of the competition.
Dan Vaughan (Motorbase Performance) looked in contention for a strong result throughout qualifying despite having never raced at the Scottish circuit before, he will start tomorrow’s race as the highest placed Pro-Am runner from the third row of the grid. Fellow Pro-Am category rivals Esmee Hawkey (GT Marques) and Seb Perez (Amigos Team Parker) will line-up behind Vaughan, at the end of the session just 0.089s separated the pair. Pro-Am championship points leader Jamie Orton (JTR) will start alongside Perez on the fifth row of the grid.
There are currently three championship points between Am drivers Peter Kyle-Henney (IN2 Racing) and Peter Mangion (Team Parker Racing) in a battle that has raged all season. Category points leader Kyle-Henney and the chasing Mangion have each appeared on the podium eight times during 2018. In qualifying at Knockhill it was Mangion who came out on top, posting a time just 0.037s quicker than that of Kyle-Henney – the pair will start the first of tomorrow’s two races ahead of fellow Am driver Iain Dockerill (Asset Advantage Racing).
Under the revised 2018 Carrera Cup GB race format, Harper has already earned two championship points with his pole position, as the top qualifiers in their respective categories – Vaughan and Mangion – also receive two points each. The grid for tomorrow’s second race will be decided immediately following race one. The overall winner will draw a number between four and six at random, deciding whether the first four, five or six competitors will have their grid positions reversed. The remaining drivers will form the grid for race two according to their finishing positions in race one.
Round eleven will take place tomorrow, Sunday 26 August, at 10:20, while round twelve will take place at 15:40.
Source. Porsche
Comments
