Duckhams Yuasa Racing with Redline secures victory in historic Carrera Cup contest

Duckhams Yuasa Racing with Redline claimed a superb victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB’s 350th race at the weekend (April 23/24), as Porsche GB Junior Driver Adam Smalley fought his way through to the front of the field.

In an extremely close qualifying session, where the first 14 drivers were separated by less than one second, Adam missed out on a front-row start by just 0.059s, while team-mate Oliver White was just three tenths away from a top-ten start on his debut, having to settle for 15th overall and ninth of the Pro class competitors.

As the lights went out on not only the 20th season of the Carrera Cup but also its 350th race, Adam started well, claiming second place when the leading cars came together on the opening lap. Closing in on Gus Burton ahead, he put the pressure on and forced a mistake through the chicane, pulling alongside past the pits and completing the pass with an excellent move on the outside of Redgate, the first turn, before opening a gap and claiming the win. Sadly, it was a tougher contest for Oliver as he suffered a puncture on the kerbs at the chicane, having to pull off and into retire.

Adam Smalley, #21

Round 1 - Grid: 3, Race: 1

Round 2 - Grid: 4, Race: 4

Championship: 1 (18 points)

It was an amazing weekend to be honest. If you told me I would come out of the weekend leading the championship with a race win, I would have taken it, so it was fantastic to get my first victory. Race one was perfect, I had a good start and knew I had the pace to catch Gus [Burton]. Previously, I've been used to 15–20-minute sprint races and the extra 10 minutes in the Carrera Cup does make a bit of a difference. I applied a bit of pressure on him towards the end and I managed to force him into a mistake at the last chicane. That meant I came across the line side by side with him, I managed to outbreak him around the outside at turn one, and then stretched the lead to 2.7 seconds.

The first lap of race two was quite tough. There were cars everywhere and I made a mistake in the early part, but I had the car underneath me to push forward. I picked them off one by one, got up to fourth, but by that point there was a big gap to [Kiern] Jewiss in front. It was an amazing first weekend, leaving joint-leader in the championship so I can't ask for much more than that. A big thank you to everyone at Duckhams Yuasa Racing with Redline for an amazing job.

For the second race later that afternoon and broadcast live on ITV4, Adam again started well and, after a small mistake, used his confidence in the car – expertly prepared by Redline Racing – to put himself in contention for another podium, falling just short as he crossed the line 1.5s behind third position. Oliver enjoyed a better afternoon, prioritising a clean race rather than risking damage, as he joined a three-car battle for seventh in the Pro class, finishing ninth and 12th overall.

The team and drivers will now review video and data in preparation for the next two races of the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season at Brands Hatch, in Kent, over the weekend of May 14/15. Coverage of race two that weekend will again be broadcast live on ITV4, while there will be three hours of race day shown on the main ITV1 channel as well.

Oliver White, #2

Round 1 - Grid: 15, Race: DNF

Round 2 - Grid: 15, Race: 12

Championship: 11 (0 points)

The practice days were tough; I was just not driving very well to be honest. My own inexperience showed in those two sessions on Thursday. In qualifying, I had a good first run, I was happy with that, but on my second run I just messed up, I hit the tyres on the chicane, damaged the splitter and damaged the front quarter of the car, and ruined the tyres as well.So I basically didn't set any fast laps on the second run, which meant I started further down than I would have liked.

In race one I had a puncture on lap one. That was a shame. That was just unlucky really, just one of those things. Race two was good, I just kept my nose clean. It was my first race in these cars, so it was just about making sure I completed the race distance, keep it one piece, and learn from it. The weekend ended on a positive with that result but overall it's been disappointing but I'll move on and keep learning and trying to improve for Brands next time. I've raced there a lot over the years, I know it well, and I've had a lot of success there, so hopefully I can continue that in the Porsche.