As Dini does the double

Runaway points leader seals title at Silverstone  

◾Redline Racing’s Dan Cammish secures 2015 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Drivers’ Championship after podium in Round 13  ◾GT Marques’ Dino Zamparelli named ‘Driver of the Weekend’ after winning both races◾Pro-Am1 and Pro-Am2 title battles as tight as ever with Juta Racing’s Ignas Gelzinis and Redline Racing’s Jordan Witt sharing the PA1 spoils and Nerijus Dagilis and John McCullagh winning in PA2◾Rookie Class goes down to the wire between Tom Sharp and Dino Zamparelli

Race One

Redline Racing’s Dan Cammish secured the 2015 Porsche Carrera Cup GB title with his thirteenth top-two finish of the season after a characteristically impressive drive to second place at Silverstone in the first race of the day. The 26-year-old got off to a good start and managed to stay out of trouble to ensure he joins the illustrious names to have taken the Drivers’ Championship crown.

With 10 wins to his name, the Yorkshireman has been utterly dominant all season behind the wheel of his 460 hp Porsche and it was only a matter of time before his relentless form made him impossible to catch. The emotion at the end of the race was clear to see as he celebrated the incredible achievement with his engineers, family and sponsors.     

“I’ve had some great results all year and knew I was in the hot seat this morning,” Cammish said. “It’s been a long time coming to get over the line and to do it without any dramas is a huge relief. We have consistently been the best car this year and I think if I hadn’t won today I would have been upset.

“I was putting on a brave face this morning but my stomach was in knots. I think it was more because I knew how tough the race was going to be. I really don’t think we’ve got a great deal of speed so finishing second around a track that has four corners and two straights is pretty impressive.”

It was also an emotional day for race winner Dino Zamparelli who put a tough season behind him to taste the champagne on the top step. The 22-year-old, who was racing with GT Marques for the first time, looked a man full of confidence as he made it past pole-sitter Meadows to take the chequered flag.

“It’s been a tough year and this is the first time we’ve just cracked it completely,” the Clifton-based driver stated. “I just can’t thank the guys at GT Marques enough because they have done me proud and I hope I have done them a favour. I wanted to win so much but it was really hard because there were yellow flags everywhere. Winning is what racers feed off and I knew I had it in me to get the job done today.”

Former double champion Michael Meadows (Samsung SUHD TV Racing) rounded off the podium with Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholar Josh Webster (Team Parker Racing) and Tom Sharp (IDL Racing) also scoring strong points. Mention must also go to In2 Racing’s Tom Bradshaw who came home in seventh on his season debut.

In the all-important Pro-Am1 title fight, Ignas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) gained crucial points over rival Jordan Witt (Redline Racing). The Lithuanian finished over five seconds ahead of In2 Racing’s Daniel McKay with Witt having to settle for third. “I found it really hard because I was blocked on the inside at the beginning,” Gelzinis commented. “Everyone started to pass me and then I had to do quite a bit of defending. I just lowered the pace a little and in the end managed to get the job done. I also secured the fastest Pro-Am1 lap so I’m really happy.”

There was also a crucial result in the Pro-Am2 category with Juta Racing’s Nerijus Dagilis taking his third PA2 win of the season to close the gap on title rival John McCullagh (Redline Racing). The Great Smeaton-based driver did however soften the point loss by finishing second ahead of G-Cat Racing’s Peter Jennings in third.

Lithuanian Dagilis was naturally delighted with his performance: “I got off to a very bad start but then managed to regain position. After the leader had spun, I immediately got myself in front and then managed to keep the lead. It’s an important win because now I’m only a few points behind John McCullagh. I feel like I’ve got that momentum heading into the final races.”

Provisional Race 1 top three

1.   Dino Zamparelli   GT Marques   26:34.361 2.   Dan Cammish    Redline Racing   26:36.588 3.   Michael Meadows  Samsung SUHD TV Racing 26:38.503

Race Two

One of the most exciting Porsche Carrera Cup GB races in recent memory saw a post-race 11-second penalty to provisional race winner Josh Webster (Team Parker Racing) hand Dino Zamparelli (GT Marques) his second win of the day to crown a perfect weekend for the Bristolian.

Pole-sitter Michael Meadows, Porsche Carrera Cup GB Josh Webster and Zamparelli were nose-to-tail for long periods before an incident involving race leader Meadows and Webster caused Meadows to spin and drop down the order. That left  Webster to come home first ahead of Zamparelli and 2015 champion Dan Cammish until Webster was demoted in the timesheets for his part in the incident.

Tom Sharp (IDL Racing) therefore picked up his second top-three finish of the season in his battle with Zamparelli for the new-for-2015 £50,000 Rookie Class prize. There was also an impressive performance by Brookspeed’s Jayde Kruger who put the disappointment of the morning race behind him to come back strong and take fifth.

In the Pro-Am1 category, Nantwich-based Jordan Witt got his title campaign back on track with his seventh PA1 win of the year. With In2 Racing’s Daniel McKay coming home second and Ignas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) only managing third, all will be decided at the season finale at Brands Hatch. “It was a massive step forward from this morning where I made an awful error,” Witt said. “I felt a lot more relaxed this afternoon. Things were all wrapped before the end which I wasn’t really expecting. I’m really looking forward to the next race as it’s going to be big one.”

Redline Racing’s John McCullagh stole the show in the Pro-Am2 category with a superbly controlled drive. The former rally driver spent large parts of the race in clear track meaning it was more a battle of keeping concentration. The 51-year-old finished well clear of the chasing pack including G-Cat Racing’s Thomas Jennings and Juta Racing’s Nerijus Dagilis who joined him on the podium.     

“I’m delighted with the win and the points,” McCullagh stated. “I had a really good weekend so I’m really excited for Brands. My approach all weekend has been to look after the car, not damage the tyres and make sure that we finish. It was just a dream to have lots of space during the race which meant I could measure my pace.”

Rounds 15 & 16 of the 2015 Porsche Carrera Cup GB take place at Brands Hatch on 10/11 October 2015. In the meantime, be sure not to miss a thing by following us at @CarreraCupGB on Twitter, @carreracupgb on Instagram and visiting www.porsche.co.uk/CarreraCupGB.

Provisional Race 2 top three

1.   Dino Zamparelli     GT Marques   26:38.114 2.   Dan Cammish Redline Racing  26:38.793   3.   Tom Sharp   IDL Racing  26:39.843