Cleland set for Carrera Cup

At KnockhillJohn Cleland will make his debut in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill over the weekend of 7/8 August. The legendary Scottish racer will drive the VIP car entered by Porsche Cars GB and is expected to thrill the Knockhill crowds with his return to the BTCC programme.The double BTCC champion will race a 911GT3 Cup car for the first time at his home track, although he has previously raced a Porsche N-GT car. He will test the car for the first time on Friday before contesting the 13th and 14th rounds of the championship on Sunday.Cleland will also rejoin his rivalry with fellow BTCC champion Tim Harvey in a contest that is set to grab the headlines. "At the end of the day, it all stems back to sour grapes from 1992, really. He never got over losing the BTCC title to me!" jokes Harvey. "We’re great racing rivals, but we’re mates really! We’ve had battles over many years, and always fair battles on the track. The rest of it is just a bit of banter and a bit of winding up. But having said that, once we get in the cars we both want to beat each other."Harvey will arrive at Knockhill with a 32-point championship lead, and knows that Cleland will not score championship points. However, a considerable amount of pride will be at stake and former BTCC champion Alain Menu won both races at Oulton Park in the VIP car back in May. "He’ll be anxious to do a Menu," reckons Harvey. "I’m going to wind him up and tell him that all the good drivers who have driven the VIP car have won races, so he’s got no excuse really."However, Harvey and the rest of the Carrera Cup pack know that Cleland will be very serious about his weekend. "It’ll be great fun at Knockhill. He’ll be a threat; home track, home crowd. John’s a competitive animal," says Harvey. "Knockhill’s a tight little track and he’ll be right on the pace."

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