Cammish and Zamparelli Win at Carrera Cup GB Opener

Anyone who thought the 2016 Carrera Cup GB season was set to be another steamroller for reigning Champion, Dan Cammish, might have forgotten about former GP3 driver, Dino Zamparelli. The opening round of the Carrera Cup GB set the scene for what looks to become a close fought season of Porsche racing, with Redline Racing’s Cammish and Zamparelli, run by the GT Marques squad, doing battle at Brands Hatch in Kent for the first two rounds of the series.

In race one, Cammish led from pole for a rolling start, but it was very much the first day back a school behind him. At Graham Hill bend, newcomer Sean Hudspeth of Parr Motorsport, spun his 911 on a damp part of the track, and G-Cat Racing’s Peter Jennings came together with Intersport’s Mark Radcliffe. As Cammish looked to pull away he was kept honest by the chasing Zamparelli, who continued his improved run of form from the end of last season.

Further back Alessandro Latif got together with Tom Oliphant on the run into Druids, damaging his radiator, Latif then made heavy contact with Dan McKay who had spun exiting Graham Hill, resulting in retirements for both cars and the appearance of the Porsche Panamera safety car. At the restart, further contact between Hudspeth and Shamus Jennings put Hudspeth’s car into the pits. But at the front Zamparelli pushed Cammish all the way with the pair trading fastest laps, but in the closing stages Cammish was deemed to have exceeded track limits, for which he was given a five second time penalty handing victory to Zamparelli. Joining them on the podium was IDL Racing’s Tom Sharp. Behind him was the top placed Rookie, Charlie Eastwood.

Reigning Pro-Am2 Champion, John McCullagh, made a surprise last minute switch to the Pro-Am1 category between Saturday’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race. McCullagh pushed Rookie Euan McKay hard before making his move on the last corner of the last lap to take the class win. The Pro-Am2 category saw Lithuanian driver, Tautvydas Barstys, take that category win ahead of Peter Kyle-Henney.

In race two, Cammish once again led away from pole, this time from a standing start, and he clearly had a point to prove, having been frustrating at receiving the penalty in race one. A dominant lights-to-flag Cammish victory followed, with Zamparelli languishing behind in second, despite claiming the fastest lap of the race. Cammish said of his second race: “I was very disappointed by this morning as to me the five second penalty for track limits didn’t take into account the fact that as race leader I was the first to encounter the really variable track conditions. In race two I was out to make amends, and think I made my point on the track.”

The last podium spot was hotly contested by Team Parker Racing’s Stephen Jelley and Tom Sharp, with the experienced Jelley coming out on top, newcomer Oliphant was in touch too. Of the Rookies, Eastwood took sixth place after passing Team Redline’s newcomer, Lewis Plato. Hudspeth took a comfortable win in the Pro-Am1 category, newcomer Radcliffe took top honours in Pro-Am2, his team, Intersport, were awarded the trophy for ‘Team of the Weekend’ as a result of their hard work. The ‘Driver of the Weekend’ award went to Team Parker Racing’s, Justin Sherwood, who took third and second places in Pro-Am1.

Points Standings After Rounds 1 & 2:

Pro Category:

1.	Dan Cammish	Redline Racing	40
2.	Dino Zamparelli	GT Marques	40
3.	Tom Sharp	IDL Racing	28

Pro-Am1 Category:

1.	Justin Sherwood	Team Parker Racing	18
2.	Euan McKay	IN2 Racing	17
3.	John McCullagh	Redline Racing	15

Pro-Am2 Category:

1.	Tautvydas Barstys	Juta Racing	20
2.	Peter Kyle-Henney	Parr Motorsport	17
3.	Iain Dockerill	Asset Advantage Racing	17

The next Porsche Carrera Cup GB races will take place at Silverstone on the weekend of 16 and 17 April in support of the prestigious FIA World Endurance Championship.