Porsche Carrera Cup GB, the fastest single-marque GT racing championship in the UK, enters its 21st season in 2023 with an exciting mix of returnees and talented newcomers. The championship continues with the latest generation of 911 racing car – the 510 hp ‘Type 992’ 911 GT3 Cup – while 2023 also marks Carrera Cup GB 2022 / 2023 Junior Adam Smalley’s second year with the support of Porsche, a season in which he guns for title glory.
Porsche Carrera Cup GB will enjoy a full calendar of 16 races spread across eight race weekends. Occupying its traditional position as part of the TOCA package – home since its inception in 2003 – the championship will race in support of the British Touring Car Championship at six UK venues. Drivers in three categories (Pro, Pro-Am and Am) will compete under largely unchanged regulations with racing getting underway at the championship’s opening weekend at Donington Park on 22 and 23 April 2023, covered live on ITV television.
As Porsche celebrates 75 years of sports cars, 60 years of the iconic 911, and a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the 100th anniversary of the endurance classic, Porsche Motorsport GB will enjoy its biggest weekends to date in 2023. For the first time since its successful introduction in 2020, Porsche Sprint Challenge GB will appear alongside Carrera Cup GB – on four occasions the two one-make championships will unite to race on the same roster.
2023 calendar
22 / 23 April – Donington Park (National) – Rounds 1&2
6 / 7 May – Brands Hatch (Indy) – Rounds 3&4
3 / 4 June – Thruxton – Rounds 5&6
17 / 18 June – Oulton Park (Island) – Rounds 7&8
12 / 13 August – Knockhill – Rounds 9&10
26 / 27 August – Donington Park (GP) – Rounds 11&12
23 / 24 September – Silverstone (National) – Rounds 13&14
7 / 8 October – Brands Hatch (GP) – Rounds 15&16
Pro category
The Pro category battle will be led by Porsche GB 2022 / 2023 Junior Adam Smalley (Team Parker Racing). Smalley took one victory in 2022, finishing the season an impressive second overall, but aims to mark his final year as part of the Porsche GB Junior programme with overall title glory. Hoping to stop Smalley’s charge comes a line-up of proven talents making their return to the championship. Gus Burton (Rosland Gold by Century Motorsport) drove to two wins in 2022, demonstrating the speed and experience to challenge Smalley, while Theo Edgerton (Redline Racing), himself a proven race winner, is equally capable of mounting a title bid.
Reigning Pro-Am category champion, Charles Rainford (CCK Motorsport), makes the step up to the Pro category for 2023. The racer from East Sussex took a maiden overall win at the 2022 season finalé at Brands Hatch and will hope to carry that momentum forward into the new season. Hugo Ellis (JTR) also moves up from the Pro-Am category to a full Pro campaign in 2023, while Micah Stanley (Richardson Racing) also makes his return, the Monégasque making the same move in 2021.
Leading the newcomers is reigning Sprint Challenge GB overall champion, Harry Foster (Team Parker Racing). Like Edgerton before him, Foster climbs the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid, continuing his racing journey at the wheel of the 911 GT3 Cup. Dutchman, Robert de Haan (Richardson Racing), is another newcomer with the raw pace to upset the established order. The 16-year-old karting sensation has already impressed racing in Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe earlier this year. Finally, reigning Ginetta GT4 Supercup champion, James Kellet (Rosland Gold by Century Motorsport) arrives hoping to use his skill and experience to make an impact.
Pro-Am category
Ryan Ratcliffe (Team Parker Racing) took the Pro-Am category championship in 2021, but endured a difficult 2022 season. The Welshman returns for 2023 as one of the favourites, though he will have to watch his mirrors in a category packed with racing talent. Former Pro-Am race winner Will Aspin (Team Parker Racing), and podium finisher Angus Whiteside (Century Motorsport), also make their returns to the championship having each debuted in 2022.
Far from an unfamiliar name to the championship, Ross Wylie (Redline Racing) moves to the Pro-Am category this season having competed at Pro level in the past – the Scotsman will certainly be one to watch as he battles a roster of new opponents. Another familiar name is Ollie Jackson (JTR) – the 2010 Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am category champion from Surrey has spent a decade competing in the BTCC but makes a welcome return to the Porsche paddock in 2023. While Jake Giddings (Team Parker Racing) is another familiar returnee. Reigning Am category driver Josh Stanton (JTR) enjoyed a dominant season in 2022, and the Oxfordshire racer makes the logical step up to the Pro-Am category this season.
Hoping to upset the established order come four Pro-Am category newcomers. Max Bird (Redline Racing) is no stranger to the TOCA package – the 22-year-old competed with Mini Challenge recently – as did another new arrival to the championship for this season, Jason Lockwood (EXCELR8 Motorsport). Another name familiar in the TOCA paddock, Henry Dawes (Century Motorsport), migrates from the Ginetta GT4 Supercup Championship, while Frazer McFadden (Toro Verde GT) arrives with experience of Radical racing under his belt.
Am category
Justin Sherwood (Team Parker Racing) is the only driver in Carrera Cup GB history to take three back-to-back Am category championships (2019, 2020, 2021). The driver from Leicestershire returns this year aiming to create more history. He stands on the cusp of taking the most race wins of any Am driver in the championship’s history – two more category victories will see him topple Peter Kyle-Henney’s existing record of 27.
David Fairbrother (Toro Verde GT) last raced with the championship in 2018, while David Stirling (Redline Racing) makes the step up from appearances on the Sprint Challenge GB grid last season.
Eight teams
Seven returning teams are joined by one newcomer, EXCELR8 Motorsport. Reigning Teams champions, Richardson Racing, are seeking to replicate their 2022 success. However, they will face stiff competition from established stalwarts. Former Teams champions Team Parker Racing, Redline Racing and JTR will all want to snatch the crown back in 2023.
Century Motorsport, CCK Motorsport and Toro Verde GT made welcome additions to the Porsche paddock over recent seasons, and all three will hope to build on their successes with solid campaigns this year. Meanwhile, EXCELR8 Motorsport makes its debut with Jason Lockwood as he conducts a Pro-Am category campaign. The team is an established force, making regular appearances in the MINI Challenge paddock, and taking Tom Ingram to the BTCC driver’s championship last year.
Driver progression
Porsche prides itself on offering a clear route for driver progression, and Carrera Cup GB is well established as a key step on the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid. The 2023 grid includes two former Sprint Challenge GB overall champions, Theo Edgerton (2021) and Harry Foster (2022), underlining the symbiotic relationship between Porsche GB’s one-make championships.
Meanwhile, 2022 Carrera Cup GB champion Kiern Jewiss graduates to international endurance racing, driving a ‘Type 992’ 911 GT3 R in Fanatec GT Endurance Cup. Carrera Cup GB 2020 / 2021 Junior – and 2020 champion – Harry King progressed to a full time Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup campaign in 2022, and he continues his impressive journey with Porsche in 2023.
Carrera Cup GB 2018 / 2019 Junior – and 2018 champion – Dan Harper continues to race as a BMW factory driver on the international stage. Dan Cammish became the first triple champion in Carrera Cup GB history in 2021 (2015, 2016, 2021) and in 2023 returns to the BTCC for another title assault.
Porsche GB Junior Programme
Porsche Carrera Cup GB 2022 / 2023 Junior Adam Smalley (Team Parker Racing) enters his second and final year as part of the Programme this season. The search for Adam’s replacement – the Carrera Cup GB 2024 / 2025 Junior – begins later this year. One of the largest individual prizes in UK motorsport, the Porsche GB Junior Programme contributes £85,000 per year towards its recipients racing budget.
2023 regulations
In 2018, the championship introduced reverse grids for the second race of each weekend, a feature that remains for 2023. Following the first race, a number between four and six is selected at random. This number determines whether the first four, five or six drivers across the line for the first race will have their grid positions reversed for the second. All other competitors will form on the race two grid according to their finishing position in race one. Introduced in 2019, should a competitor fail to finish in race one, they will take up a grid position for race two immediately behind the last finisher in their category from race one. Both races continue to feature a standing start.
The points structure remains unchanged across all three categories. A weighting for Pro category drivers in the first race rewards qualifying performance and partially offsets any penalty for a reverse grid placing in the second. In a similar spirit, the driver with the fastest lap in each category during qualifying at each race weekend will be awarded two championship points. An overall points table calculated on the same basis as in 2022 will determine the Team and Rookie championships. Drivers with the highest number of fastest laps in each category (Pro, Pro-Am, Am and Rookie) at the end of the season will receive a TAG Heuer chronograph watch.
‘Type 992’ 911 GT3 Cup
Following its introduction in 2022, Porsche Carrera Cup GB continues with the ‘Type 992’ 911 GT3 Cup for the 2023 season. Porsche has built over 5000 Cup cars to date, this latest iteration following in the tyre tracks of its successful ‘Type 991’ predecessor while offering developments across the board. Powered by an evolved 4.0-litre six-cylinder boxer engine producing 510 hp and 470 Nm of torque, mechanical highlights include – for the first time on a Cup car – double wishbone suspension on the front axle.
Following a successful trial in 2022, new for 2023 is the use of Hiperflo R20 fuel. Featuring 20 per cent renewable components (15 per cent second generation ethanol and five per cent renewable hydrocarbons), the new fuel affords a reduction in greenhouse gasses of approximately 18 per cent compared to pump fuel, significantly lowering the championship’s environmental impact.
Source. Porsche
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