Good weekend for Perez at Thruxton
Amigos Redline Racing star Seb Perez continued his Porsche Carrera Cup GB campaign as he returned to the UK’s fastest circuit, Thruxton last weekend (August 17-18) in the championship after the six week mid season racing break.
The 19-year-old Chesterfield racer got two excellent fourth-place finishes in both races as he continued his attack in the Pro class series, after being crowned Porsche Pro-Am champion last year.
Torrential rain on Friday during the second practice session saw him get as much track time in as he could but having to sit out some of the session with the other teams due to the bad conditions.
Due to this Perez missed out on essential laps on a circuit he hadn’t raced on for four years and the first time for the Porsche championship had visited in six years.
Needless to say and in true Perez style he went out on Saturday morning and gave it all he had got and qualified in 6th place.
A race one rain shower just before the start caused chaos with some cars changing to wet tyres, Perez decided to stay out on slicks which would prove to be the right choice that saw the track dry out over the 20 lap contest.
Staying out was the right decision, Perez had made the right call watching those on wets go in and clawed his way back fending off a late-charging Esmee Hawkey to hold fourth at the end of a challenging race.
Live on ITV 4, A partial reverse grid for Sunday’s second race saw Perez start on the second row in third place alongside his Nottinghamshire Amigos Team mate George Gamble, as the lights went out Perez stormed to a great start avoiding the drama at Campbell Corner where Gamble got mixed up in a tangle with Jamie Orton.
With Gambles misfortune and out of the race Perez gained and snatched the lead, before being caught and passed by Josh Webster and Dan Harper.
Perez now in third was looking at a podium place until in the later stages of the race he ran wide to let Lewis Plato through and settled for a very well placed fourth again.
After a good weekend at the Hampshire circuit Perez commented: “In FP1 the pace was fairly good; the track was greasy, and I hadn’t raced at Thruxton for four years, so it was good to get back into a rhythm. We did six laps in the rain in FP2 to see what it was like in case it was wet over the weekend, which proved to be very useful, but we were also mindful of not damaging the car.”
“In qualifying we had the pace and we were very competitive. I felt we could have been in the top three, but I had traffic on my best lap.”
“Race one was interesting due to it starting wet when we were on slicks. I had flashbacks to Croft and was wondering if we were on the right tyres. We did a second Safety Car lap and the track was wet in sectors one and two but sector three was bone dry.”
“The rain was very heavy, and I thought about stopping but I thought ‘it’s going to blow over and in ten laps time it will be the wrong tyre.’ The three other cars in front of me were on slicks and pulled a gap at the start so I was in no man’s land and finished fourth.”
“I started third on the reverse grid for race two and had an awkward moment into the third corner; Jamie Orton in front braked early so I had contact with him, and he then ran wide into George [Gamble], who went off.
“We led the rest of the lap until Josh [Webster] got a good tow and passed me down the back straight. After that I tried to look after the tyres; we played the long game, but it didn’t quite work out. That said, two fourths is a good result and I’m looking forward to the WEC rounds next.
Perez added: “I’ve already raced on the Silverstone GP track in the Supercup during the Formula 1 weekend so it will be good to get back there and show what we can do.”
Perez leaves the Hampshire circuit in fifth place in the championship with 39 points and Amigos Redline racing third in the Entrants Championship with 222 points.
Next up on the calendar sees the Amigos boys travel to Silverstone (31 August / 1st September) where the series will support the FIA World Endurance Championship, having already competed there in July in a one-off appearance in the Porsche Supercup supporting the British Grand Prix both Perez and Amigos Redline Racing are well versed on the circuit.
This year’s 16 race Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship series is one of the most highly regarded championships in Europe and follows the Kwik-Fit British Touring Car Championship package.
You can follow Seb and the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship live on ITV4
Editorial Paul Horton
Images Dan Bathie/Porsche GB.
