Perez looks forward to race at British Grand Prix
Chesterfield’s 19 year old race ace Seb Perez is looking forward to his guest drive at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in the Mobil 1 Porsche Supercup this weekend (13-14 July )
The excitement mounts for the current Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro category driver who will be one of three Brits in the prestige International Championship that follows the FIA Formula One World Championship around the globe and will be racing alongside his Amigos team mate Nottinghamshire’s George Gamble and also leader in the British Championship and 2018 Porsche Junior Champion Dan Harper.
All three drivers should make a strong team effort in the race as all currently are well placed in the GB Championship, Perez is sixth and Gamble 3rd in the Pro Category and Harper leads
They will also race alongside World Porsche Super cup drivers and former World Track Cyclist now turned racing driver Sir Chris Hoy.
All three cars will be run by JTR racing, using their Amigos Carrera Cup spec cars converted to Supercup spec for the weekend. The cars will be different to drive, they will be lighter and quicker and will be limited to the sets of tyres they can use as guests to the Championship.
It’s not just about racing the car you need to know what it will do and how, Perez explained “technically the car is different, it has run straight through exhausts that make more noise and the car to the back is 35kg’s lighter that causes over steer and traction, qualifying will be interesting with fewer tyres to use and a few subtle differences to our usual GB Cup cars”
The GB Team of all 3 drivers were amongst around 27 cars that tested at Silverstone in June for the event, that saw Perez on a good pace and topping speeds of over 237kph.
After the test session Perez said “We had a really good test in preparation for the Grand Prix weekend with a lot to take in and learn a few little tricks that I can take back to the Carrera Cup GB that will help quite a bit.” I’m hoping for a top ten finish or better but it is a very competitive championship and would be nice for a rookie podium as a first time out in the Supercup.”
Perez will race in front of around 110,000 people and it is televised live on Sky Sports F1 and other channels Worldwide.
Perez said ” Performing in front of a crowd of around 110,000 people on Grand Prix day is pretty special and being on the Formula One package is another thing all together, I think we shall do all right and to be one of only three British drivers to be out there is great and also to have two current championship GB Cup contenders George and Dan will be very special”
He added “I’m really looking forward to having a good weekend.”
Seb Perez left Oulton Park in Cheshire two weeks ago after the seventh and eighth rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB with two top-ten finishes despite having a tough weekend in his Amigos Redline Racing machine.
Coming away from Croft last time out with a third-place podium hopes were high for another strong result after a two-week break for the Championship.
The warm and humid conditions made things challenging for the Amigos driver as he lined up tenth on the grid in the Pro class for race one. Seb had a clean start off the line and did well to stay out of trouble during the opening laps.
At the halfway point the 19-year-old had made good progress. Despite the Cheshire circuit being a difficult track to overtake on, Seb passed three cars before zeroing in on Dan Vaughan ahead.
Closing the three-and-a-half second gap to the cars ahead, he became part of a six-car fight which continued until the last lap, where the teenager made up one more position, finishing eighth overall.
A good start off the line for race two helped Seb to hold onto eighth place. As the race went on however, he began to struggle with his pace and eventually crossed the line ninth in class, a good recovery in a tough contest. He currently lies 6th in the championship
After this weekend Perez has a busy has a Porsche summer break for 5 weeks before a demanding schedule in front of him over the next few of months. with the usual Porsche Carrera Cup GB commitments taking in Thruxton and Brands Hatch until the end of October including two further trips to Silverstone where the series supports the FIA World Endurance Championship at the end of August and back again a month later in September supporting the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship..
The International renown Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Championship is the pinnacle of the numerous national and international Porsche one-make series currently running around the World, and has been for more than 25 years.
