Following a fast and frantic qualifying session at Brands Hatch, 17-year-old Porsche GB 2018 / 2019 Junior Dan Harper claimed the final pole position of the 2018 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season. Harper will start Round Fifteen alongside championship leader Dino Zamparelli (Redline Racing), Lewis Plato (JTR) and title hopeful Tom Wrigley (JTR) will start from the second row of the grid. The third driver with a chance of clinching the Pro category championship tomorrow, Tio Ellinas (Slidesports Engineering), will line-up in P6..
In glorious dry and sunny conditions Harper consistently featured at the top of the qualifying timesheet throughout the 30-minute session. During the latter stages of the session the Junior traded fastest lap times with Zamparelli, Plato, Wrigley, Ellinas and 2018 Rookie champion George Gamble (Amigos Team Parker). After a frenetic exchange in the closing stages of the session, the top five runners were covered by just 0.186s as each pushed hard to gain an advantage around the challenging 2.4-mile Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
Pro-Am championship leader Seb Perez (Amigos Team Parker) will start Round Fifteen in P8, Esmee Hawkey (GT Marques) made a late charge to fend off category championship contender Jamie Orton (JTR) and returnee Rory Collingbourne (Redline Racing) for P2 in category – Orton claiming P3. Having posted the fastest time of the Pro-Am runners, championship contender Dan Vaughan (Motorbase Performance) incurred a penalty following a scrutineering issue and will start from the back of the grid.
Peter Mangion (Team Parker Racing) – Am category champion for 2018 – had his session under control throughout, qualifying ahead of rivals Iain Dockerill (Asset Advantage Racing) and David Fairbrother (Slidesports Engineering). Guest entrants Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) and Mike Wilds (Redline Racing) continued to get to grips with competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB throughout the session – neither driver will qualify for championship points during the weekend.
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 – Perez 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 Fifteen – the milestone 300th race since the championship’s inception in 2003 – will take place tomorrow, Sunday 30 September, at 10:40, Round Sixteen will take place at 16:20. Both races now feature a standing start and are scheduled to last for a duration of 17 laps. Zamparelli, Ellinas and Wrigley can all clinch the Pro category championship tomorrow, while in Pro-Am Perez, Vaughan and Orton each have a chance at category glory.
Source. Porsche
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