Michael Meadows sets overall testing paceScholarship winner Daniel Lloyd takes strong fourthRory Butcher and Keith Webster top Pro-Am1 and Pro-Am2Michael Meadows put the first marker down for the 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup GB when he set the overall pace during the major pre-season test and media day at Silverstone  (Tuesday 13 March). With the first seven drivers covered by six-tenths of a second, the stage is set for some superb racing this season.Meadows topped the times for Redline Racing as a misty start gave way to a dry but chilly day of testing on the National circuit. Meadows set a searing pace in the afternoon session to lap a massive 1.8s under the lap record set by Nick Tandy last October and almost a second quicker than Tandy’s pole position time. Significantly, Meadows lapped more than a second faster than he had to take second on the grid in October. He finally left the mark for the day at 55.035s.“We came here wanting to be quickest and we were,” said Meadows. “That’s a great start to the season, but it is very close. Now we’ll move on to Brands Hatch on Thursday and I think I owe the guys at Redline a beer.” The Team Parker Racing trio of young Yorkshire-based racers packed out the next three places, all lapping within a quarter of a second of Meadows. Richard Plant, Sam Tordoff and Daniel Lloyd were all very impressive and were split by just a tenth of a second. For championship newcomer and 2012 Carrera Cup Scholarship winner Lloyd it was a particularly strong start. “The team has done a fantastic job and it is where I want to be,” he said. “I’ve had a really, really good day.” Ben Barker (Parr Motorsport) wrapped up the top five overall.The times were just as close in the Pro-Am1 category as Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed) headed the times in sixth overall and pipped Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman Air/Redline) by seven-hundredths of a second. Derek Pierce (Team Parker Racing) was very close behind for third in Pro-Am1.Renewing their battle from 2011, it was Keith Webster (Redline Racing) and George Brewster (Celtic Speed) at the head of Pro-Am2. This time, Webster reversed the final 2011 championship positions by edging Brewster by 16-hundredths of a second as Yucel Ozbek (Redline Racing) posted a competitive third fastest time.The teams and drivers will next meet for the opening races of the season at Brands Hatch on 31 March/1 April when the Pro category will include title contender Glynn Geddie (Redline Racing). Geddie missed the Silverstone test while out of the country, but is sure to be another major contender for the season.