Jason Templeman set the pace in testing for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton last Friday as team mate Damien Faulkner made it a one-two at the top of the times for Team Parker Racing.

The SAS International backed cars of Templeman and Faulkner both broke the 1m17s mark, as they set the fastest ever Carrera Cup laps of the high-speed Hampshire track. It was also the first time that a Carrera Cup car has lapped Thruxton at an average speed of more than 110mph.

“That’s the perfect way to start,” said team boss Stuart Parker. “Everyone has worked hard to make this happen and this is a good reward for their work.” Templeman was equally pleased with progress. “That’s just the start we wanted,” he said after his first serious test session of the season.

Faulkner lapped only two-tenths of a second slower than Templeman on his first visit to Thruxton in six years, ands his first time there in a Porsche. “There was more time in the new tyres, but it’s good that we’re both up there,” said the Irish racer.

Third fastest was Tim Harvey for Team RPM. Harvey only ran eight laps split across two different cars as he concentrated on helping team mates Steve Clark and Emmanuel Crouvisier learn the track. Neither driver had seen Thruxton before the start of the test session, so Harvey spent a minimal amount of time in each car. Nevertheless, he set third fastest time in Clark’s car. “The other guys needed the laps today,” said Harvey, who was also running on used tyres. Importantly for Harvey, his 2004 title rival Richard Westbrook missed the test day as he is away in Bahrain contesting the opening round of the Porsche Supercup.

Jason Young, Nigel Rice and Stephen Shanly filled the next places for Red Line Racing. “It is such hard work round here,” said Rice, echoing the feelings of many drivers as they tackled the daunting sweeps of Thruxton. Shanly, meanwhile, had never driven a Porsche at Thruxton before and used the session to settle in to the track.

Just behind the Red Line trio was Jon Barnes, driving the Porsche Cars with Team Autosport entry. The Southampton racer has been selected to contest the Thruxton race weekend in the VIP entry, so he was on a major learning curve during the session. “It is very different! But I’ve now got four weeks to think about it,” he said.

The Carrera Cup races at Thruxton are not until April 30/May 1, but before that the season opens at Donington on April 9/10.

Leading times from Thruxton test session:

1 Jason Templeman (Team Parker Racing)                   1m16.743s

2 Damien Faulkner (Team Parker Racing)                   1m16.970s

3 Tim Harvey (Team RPM)                      1m17.180s

4 Jason Young (Red Line Racing)            1m18.085s

5 Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing)                   1m18.319s

6 Stephen Shanly (Red Line Racing)          1m18.890s