Ben Barker heads Carrera Cup GB testing at Snetterton‏

Ben Barker sets the overall pace in the Snetterton sunshineMichael Leonard tops Pro-Am1Tania Mann sets the mark in Pro-Am2 Ben Barker set the pace in testing for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton today (Friday 10 August) as high ambient temperatures struck for the first time this season. Barker (Parr Motorsport) headed a tightly-packed group of drivers as seven-tenths of a second covered the top eight drivers ahead of rounds 11 and 12 of the championship. In Pro-Am1, Michael Leonard (Naas Court Hotel with Team Parker) shot to the head of the times while series returnee Tania Mann (sibsport performance) topped the Pro-Am2 category.With high temperatures both outside and inside the cars, Barker moved to the top of the time sheets as the leading drivers completed new tyre runs in the afternoon test session. His best lap of 1m52.691s left him nearly a fifth of a second clear and marked what Ben described as a great start to his weekend. I came into the weekend knowing what I had to do and we know weve got a good set up here, he said. After the last two race weekends, where he was battling to learn tracks on rain-hit test days, it was a welcome return to pace-setting form for Barker.Leading the chase of Barker was Team Parker Racing duo Sam Tordoff and Daniel Lloyd and both were very close to the ultimate pace. We tested here in the break and had a good couple of days, so we were ready this morning, said Tordoff. Lloyd, meanwhile, used his fresh rubber early in the session. We did the time and then played with the set up. The important thing is that we got the car spot on, said Lloyd.Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) and Michael Meadows (Redline Racing), currently second and first respectively in the overall championship standings, were fourth and fifth as Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed), Andy Meyrick (Team Parker Racing) and Richard Plant (Team Parker Racing) all lapped within three-quarters of a second of Barker. For series debutant Meyrick it was a solid start to his Carrera Cup campaign, but he knew he should have been quicker. Its a case of just trying to put it all together and I didnt get the best out of the new tyres, he said.Flying to the top of Pro-Am1, less than a third of a second adrift of the Pro pack, was Leonard, but with the top five Pro-Am1 drivers covered by less than half a second, the category is wide open. I didnt think Id be that far up, admitted Leonard. Theres more time to come, he promised. Right on Leonards pace was Derek Pierce (JD Pierce with Team Parker), Ahmad Al Harthy (Redline with Oman Air), Oly Mortimer (GT Marques) and Victor Jimenez (Redline with Oman Air). In Pro-Am2, Tania Mann returned to the series after missing two race weekends and pared 1.5s from her morning time to move a second ahead of category rival Will Goff (Goff Racing) by the end of the two official test sessions. Im really pleased with that, said Mann.

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