Redline Racing have ended the first half of the 2019 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season on the top step of the podium as George Gamble secured their second outright victory of the campaign on a scorching weekend at Oulton Park (29/30 June). With double victories at the circuit in 2016 and 2017, the Teeside squad headed to Cheshire confident of further success and it was reigning Rookie champion Gamble who rose to the challenge in his Amigos Tequila Beer backed machine. In glorious sunshine on Saturday, Gamble matched his best qualifying performance of the season so far as he posted the second fastest time of the session. From the front row in race one later that afternoon, the Nottingham racer slipped to third early on and held it to the finish. That placed him third on the reverse grid for the live televised race two on Sunday afternoon. A great launch off the line immediately moved the 22 year old into second and after pressuring the leader for a number of laps, he snuck through at mid-distance to seize the advantage. A mature drive from there took him to the chequered flag for his fifth career win in the championship, which keeps him third in the points standings and in the hunt to try and challenge for a record 11th Carrera Cup GB drivers’ title for Redline across the second half of the season. It was unfortunately a tougher weekend for Gamble’s Amigos stablemate Seb Perez however. Qualifying tenth of the Pro class contenders, the 19 year old put in a pair of determined drives to come home with eighth and ninth place results from the weekend. Gamble wasn’t the only Redline Racing to grace the podium over the weekend meanwhile, with Jack McCarthy and John Ferguson taking home silverware in the Pro Am and Am classes respectively to continue the team’s challenge for honours on three fronts. McCarthy completed the first half of his maiden Carrera Cup GB campaign with a battling display. Qualifying third in class, he suffered an unfortunate retirement in the opening race but bounced back from the rear of the field in race two and came home with a second place result. Ferguson meanwhile qualified a strong third in class in his Vulcan Industries sponsored car. Moving up to second on lap one, the Irishman pressured the leader throughout but couldn’t get ahead, before briefly leading in race two on his way to completing a pair of second place finishes. Simon Leonard – Team Boss: “We’re pleased we could head into the summer break with a successful weekend at Oulton Park, getting three drivers on the podium across the three classes to keep ourselves in title contention in each heading into the second half of the year. “George [Gamble] had a nightmare weekend at Croft, so we’re all delighted he could bounce back this way. His pace was superb across the meeting and on a circuit that’s difficult to overtake around in a Porsche, he drove smartly to pick the right moment to make moves and get the win. “It was a difficult weekend for Seb [Perez] unfortunately, but he got a couple of solid finishes under his belt to cap off a great first half of the season for him. We’re confident he’ll be back challenging for the overall podium when we head to Thruxton in August. “This weekend was a real challenge for Jack [McCarthy], but he tackled it head on and continued to make great progress in his first season in the series, while John [Ferguson] did a fantastic job once again and richly deserved his visits to the podium. It’s time to regroup in the summer break and be ready to challenge for more wins in the second half of the year.” The Porsche Carrera Cup GB is now taking a seven week break before the next rounds of the championship at Thruxton in Hampshire on 17/18 August.
Image from Dan Bathie/PorscheGB.