Michael Meadows underlined his status as the current pacesetter in the 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup GB by posting the fastest time during testing at Thruxton yesterday (5 April). Meadows ended the day six-tenths of a second clear of the pack as drivers tested at the daunting Hampshire track in readiness for the race weekend (28/29 April).On a cold, dry day the times were very fast and Meadows ended with a best lap seven-tenths of a second under the 2011 pole position time as the top 10 drivers all lapped inside the existing lap record. Derek Pierce headed the Pro-Am1 times while Tania Mann (SIBSport) was the only Pro-Am2 racer present as she set about learning the high-speed track.Meadows (Redline Racing) topped both sessions and dipped to 1m13.160s in the second session to set the fastest ever Carrera Cup lap at Thruxton. “We were quick all day and I’m surprised how fast the times are. The Redline engineers have done well to get the car right and I couldn’t have asked for a better day.”Leading the pursuit of Meadows was Daniel Lloyd (JD Pierce with Team Parker) and he acknowledged that he could have been quicker. “I didn’t get the best on my new tyre run and there is definitely more time there,” said the Carrera Cup Scholarship driver as he continued his impressive start to the season. Richard Plant (Team Parker Racing) and Ben Barker (Parr Motorsport) also broke the 1m14s barrier, with Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed) and Sam Tordoff (Team Parker Racing) right behind.Barker was the only one of the leading drivers tackling Thruxton for the first time. “I’ve never been here before and I love it. There is still more time to come,” said Barker. Glynn Geddie (Redline Racing) was seventh fastest just ahead of Pierce (JD Pierce with Team Parker) who topped the Pro-Am1 pack.Pierce’s pace was just rewards for the Team Parker Racing crew who rebuilt his car after an accident in round two at Brands Hatch four days earlier. The car was on a jig in the bodyshop until Wednesday afternoon, but was ready to run again on Thursday morning. “The car is brilliant,” said Pierce. “I can’t thank the boys enough.” Michael Leonard made it a good day for the Parker squad by going second in Pro-Am1, only a tenth of a second down on Pierce, while Ahmad Al Harthy (Redline/Oman Air) was well in touch in third.