Cheshire challenge awaits Carrera Cup duo and Duckhams Yuasa Racing with Redline
Duckhams Yuasa Racing with Redline is set to resume action in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB this weekend (June 11/12), as the series heads to the picturesque Oulton Park in Cheshire, for rounds five and six of the season.
In a closely fought opening two meetings of the year, Porsche GB Junior Driver Adam Smalley sits third in the championship standings, two points off the lead. However, with the top five drivers covered by four points, small gains could make all the difference when the lights go out.
Undertaking his first season in the Carrera Cup, Oliver White has been working hard to try and replicate his success in single seaters behind the wheel of the tricky to master Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. After suffering bad luck with a puncture on the opening lap of the season at Donington Park, he faced his first laps in the wet at Brands Hatch last time out, further building his knowledge base.
Both Adam and Oliver will be out on track on Wednesday, June 8th, for an official Porsche test day on Oulton Park’s 2.26 mile ‘Island’ circuit layout, before two further practice sessions on Friday. There will be an early start on Saturday 11th as qualifying is set to begin at 09:05 with the opening 18-lap race that afternoon at 14:15. The second contest will be held a day later at 13:35 and is also being broadcast live on ITV1 and ITV Hub online.
Adam Smalley, #21
Oulton is a track that I really enjoy. From a driver’s point of view there's no better circuit to drive around and set qualifying laps than Oulton Park. Being not far away from the barriers, right on the edge is an amazing feeling and fingers crossed, we can carry our momentum forward into the weekend.
Qualifying will be key with every single race this year as there are seven or eight cars that are in the running this year, so it is closer than ever. These cars are quite powerful and wide, and Oulton is a narrow circuit, so overtaking will be challenging. There’s the official Porsche test day on Wednesday which is going to be my first time going around the circuit in this car and hopefully, we can get some good mileage before heading into the weekend.
It's probably the biggest event of the year for us as it's the closest one to home and a lot of the sponsors are based near there. I'm looking forward to seeing lots of friends and family there supporting me, which I don't get at every round, and using that to drive me forward for the races.
Oliver White, #2
I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Oulton Park is a track I haven't actually raced on a huge amount in the past. I've raced there a few times in Formula Ford. I think it's one of the hardest tracks in the country, but my plan is to keep working at what I am learning and improving on where I was at Brands Hatch last time out. My aim is to be inside the top ten in qualifing and then see where we can get to in both of the races.
It is great that we get a full day of testing on the Wednesday, then have a day off to go over all the data, before we go back out for the two practice sessions on Friday. Hopefully, with all those laps I'll be having, it will give me enough confidence to push forward and keep improving. One positive is that it's looking dry all the way through the weekend, it but if it does rain, I'm better prepared having had that experience at Brands Hatch.
