Jason Templeman headed the title contenders during the first official day test for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton yesterday (Tuesday, 16 March). During a full day's testing, the Team VLR racer posted the fastest time amongst the championship contenders, ending the day half a second ahead of series newcomer Jonathan Fildes (TCR).

The overall fastest time of the day actually went to 2003 champion Barry Horne, who was driving the VIP car from Porsche Cars GB. However, with Horne not planning to defend his title, it was Templeman who headed the registered competitors. "This is only our second day of testing, so we're pleased with that," reckoned Templeman.

Fildes, meanwhile, underlined his growing status as a title contender with third best time. The Irishman was one of five drivers to lap within a second of Horne's time as he continued his acclimatisation to the Porsche 911GT3 Cup. The top three drivers all lapped under the existing lap record for Snetterton, set by American Pat Long in August 2003.

Despite running only a handful of laps in the car destined for his new team-mate Michael Corridan, Richard Westbrook set fourth fastest time for BEAST Racing. "I was just bedding the car in for Michael, so I wasn't really going for a time," said Westbrook.

Nigel Rice made a strong return to the championship after the motorbike accident that sidelined him throughout 2003. His pace for Red Line Racing points to a major title bid for the Yorkshireman, while the top six was rounded out by another Porsche newcomer, Chris Cooper (Team Parker Racing).

With other major players like Tim Harvey (RPM Motorsport) and David Pinkney (BEAST Racing) due to start their test programmes shortly, the first battle lines for the 2004 season have been drawn. Although all of the leading teams and drivers will be testing again over the next two weeks, the next official Carrera Cup GB test is on 7 April ahead of the opening races of the season at Thruxton on Sunday 11 April.

Leading times:

1 Barry Horne (Porsche Cars GB)       1m09.606s

2 Jason Templeman (Team VLR)       1m09.712s

3 Jonathan Fildes (TCR)                1m10.272s

4 Richard Westbrook (BEAST Racing)       1m10.415s

5 Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing)            1m10.492s

6 Chris Cooper (Team Parker Racing)       1m10.562s

7 Martin Rich (Team Parker Racing)       1m11.158s

8 Mark Hazell (Team Parker Racing)       1m11.413s

9 Jason Young (Red Line Racing)       1m11.596s

10 Des Winks (Red Line Racing)         1m11.712s