Porsche Carrera Cup GB heads for Donington Park

The 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB resumes at Donington Park this weekend (16/17 April) for rounds three and four of the 19-race season. With a superb field of 24 of the new 450bhp 911 GT3 Cup cars on the grid, there will be plenty of superb race action at the popular East Midlands track, with a host of strong contenders across all three categories.The driver heading to Donington with the early lead in the points’ table is Stephen Jelley (Parker with Juta) and this is very much home ground for the Anstey-based racer who took a win and a second at Brands Hatch to take a four-point championship lead. “That’s a great start to the season,” said Jelley. “Coming into my home races of the season at Donington leading the points is mega. I’ve probably done more races at Donington than any other circuit and I know it very well. It’s always been a good track for me in terms of pace, but with a home track there is always added pressure.”The biggest rival to Jelley at Brands Hatch was his team mate Euan Hankey, who also pulled together a very late deal to contest a second season in the Carrera Cup GB. Hankey became the first Carrera Cup Scholarship driver to win a race with victory in the season opener at Brands and should be a major contender at Donington Park.Ranged against Jelley and Hankey are more than half a dozen drivers in the pro category and all of them have very serious race winning intent. James Sutton and Michael Meadows (SAS/Redline) were consistently strong at Brands Hatch to offer the biggest challenge to Jelley and Hankey and it is Sutton who currently lies just four points behind Jelley at the head of the table. Meanwhile, youngsters Sam Tordoff (Leeds) and Richard Plant (Sheffield) made impressive debuts for Team Parker Racing and will be on their home track at Donington.For Nationwide/Motorbase duo Michael Caine and Tim Harvey, Brands was a difficult weekend and they will be battling to come back strong at Donington, while 2011 Carrera Cup Scholarship racer Ben Hetherington (Redline/Oman Air) will be aiming to move up the order having raced at Brands when less than 100% fit after being hit by tonsillitis.In the Pro-Am1 category, Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) emerged from Brands Hatch with an early points’ lead but he faces some tough challenges. Notably, round one winner Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed), Derek Pierce (Dextra/J&D Pierce by Parker) and Ahmad Al Harthy (Redline/Oman Air) are all strong contenders.For Pro-Am2 pacesetter George Brewster (Celtic Speed) it was a great start to the season with a double win at Brands. But Andrew Shelley (Redline Racing), Tautvydas Barstys (Juta Racing) and Keith Webster (Redline Racing) all had strong starts to their campaigns.After qualifying at 14.15 on Saturday, round three will start at 09.20 on Sunday with round four at 15.05. Round four will be broadcast live on ITV4 during the extensive BTCC programme, with highlights from round three possibly being broadcast during the lunch break, which starts at 12.45 on Sunday.

Related Motorsport Articles

85,792 articles