John Cleland thrilled thousands of Scottish race fans during the Porsche Carrera Cup GB races at Knockhill over the weekend (7/8 August). In his first race for 10 months, Cleland finished a fighting sixth in the opening race, although he was put out of contention in the second race after a first lap tangle caused a puncture.The double BTCC champion was racing the VIP car entered by Porsche Cars GB and proved immensely popular with the bumper crowd at the Fife track. However, Cleland was pretty new to racing a Porsche and had not raced since October 2003. “Testing was the first time I’d sat in a racing car for 10 months," he confirmed. "But it’s a bit like riding a bike! I’m still learning what the car does and I want to bring it back in one piece!”Despite that, he got a flying start into the opening race and shot from ninth on the grid to fourth place at the first corner. "I got a cracking start for the first race; getting off the line was fantastic. It was really good fun!” He then battled mightily with Damien Faulkner, Nigel Rice, Gary Britnell and Jonathan Fildes before finishing sixth. In the second race, Cleland got another good start, but contact at the first corner tipped him into a spin and with a punctured tyre he had to limp slowly back to the pits for a wheel change. He then rejoined, but later retired with a clutch problem.Nevertheless, he had thoroughly enjoyed the experience. "It's been fantastic! The Porsche is an amazing piece of machinery and it's brilliant that you can buy one of these cars and just go racing in a great championship," said Cleland. "I'd like to thank Porsche Cars GB for the chance to drive the car."