The SAS-backed Red Line Racing cars of James Sutton and Michael Meadows topped the times during the major pre-season test day for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton yesterday (Tuesday 22 March).As teams and drivers mastered the new 300 circuit at the Norfolk venue, Sutton and Meadows set the pace in what is already shaping up to be the most competitive season in the championship’s history. With seven-tenths of a second covering the top six drivers on the new 3-mile track, the pacesetters were an intriguing mix of established Carrera Cup aces and exciting newcomers.As drivers did new tyre runs later in the afternoon, Red Line was the last of the three big teams to send their drivers out with fresh tyres. Sutton and Meadows worked together, with Sutton running just ahead of his team mate to set the standard at 1m50.245s. With Meadows lapping 0.164s behind, it was an impressive display. “We seem to be in really good shape,” said Sutton. “It was important to get a really good sense of what the car is doing and this bodes well for the opening races at Brands Hatch.” Meadows was equally pleased with the day. “It’s been close all through. James and I like a similar set-up and we found a lot of time on the new rubber.”Third fastest, right on the pace of the SAS cars, was a massively impressive performance from Carrera Cup newcomer Sam Tordoff (Team Parker Racing). He set the overall pace for much of the afternoon session was only edged back to third by 0.382s in the final reckoning. To make it an excellent day for the Parker squad, fellow newcomer Richard Plant was sixth fastest. “That’s a good start to the year and I’m happy to be up with Tim Harvey and Michael Caine,” said Plant.Having won 19 out of 20 races between them in 2010, Harvey and Caine clearly look to have a big battle on their hands this season and the Team Nationwide/Motorbase pair took fourth and fifth slots in the final testing times. “We’re pleased with the work we’ve done today, but I don’t think we got the best out of the new tyres,” said defending champion Harvey. Caine, meanwhile, lost a better lap on new tyres when his car ran low on fuel through Coram on a lap that was set to be around half a second better than his 1m50.887s best. “It cut out coming out of Coram on my second flier,” reported Caine.Making it a superb day for the Red Line team was seventh fastest and top Pro-Am1 time for Ahmad Al Harthy after a very impressive run. “I’m really excited to be back,” said the Omani racer. “We’re on the pace and that’s good for confidence.” Chasing Al Harthy in Pro-Am1 were Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) and Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed), while fourth fastest in Pro-Am1 was a strong showing from Freddy Nordstrom (Parr Motorsport). Although Nordstrom is not yet confirmed in the entry list, his pace on his Carrera Cup debut was a major boost to both team and driver as they work to conclude a deal for the season.Just ahead of Nordstrom in a fine tenth overall was Pro-Am2 pacesetter George Brewster (Celtic Speed). “Until last week I’d not sat in a racing car since last October, but it came right with the new tyres,” said Brewster. Leading the chase of the Scot in Pro-Am2 was championship newcomer Keith Webster (Red Line Racing). “That’s a good starting point; I was just getting to grips with the circuit,” he said as Steve Parish (Motorbase Performance) completed the top three in Pro-Am2.