Redline Racing produced their best weekend of the 2019 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season so far as George Gamble stormed to a pair of outright race victories in treacherous conditions at Silverstone this past weekend (28/29 September). The Teeside squad bolstered their entry for the penultimate meeting of the season with the signing of reigning Carrera Cup GB champion Tio Ellinas, and he followed home Gamble for a memorable one-two finish in the second race of the weekend. While Ellinas had topped the timesheets in official testing on both Wednesday and Friday in the lead up to the weekend, it was Gamble who led the team’s efforts in qualifying on Saturday. A great lap of 54.696s put him fourth on the grid, just one tenth of a second shy of pole position. Rainfall just as the field headed round to the grid for the start of Sunday’s opening race led to an inspired decision by Gamble to pit for wet tyres. While he returned to the track at the back of the track, it was immediately clear he had a pace advantage over the remainder of the field. A storming drive saw him scythe his way through the field in his Amigos Tequila Beer backed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Up to fifth place within the opening three laps alone, he picked his way through the remaining contenders and romped clear to a seven second victory. From sixth on the reverse grid for race two, the Nottingham racer put in another sterling drive. Storming through to the race lead by the end lap two, he controlled the remainder of the race to become only the second driver to win both races in a weekend during the reverse grid era. Ellinas meanwhile started the opening race from sixth on the grid, but it unfortunately proved to be a short-lived affair as contact into Becketts damaged his Porsche and forced him into retirement. The Cypriot racer went on to bounce back in style in race two though. From 17th on the grid, he sensationally rose nine places on the opening lap alone in his DMS Vinyls backed machine. Continuing his great progress from there, he was up to second by the end of lap nine and comfortably followed Gamble to the flag to mark his series return with a podium. For Gamble’s Amigos stablemate Seb Perez, it unfortunately proved to be a weekend to forget. On the wrong tyres for the opening race, he could only fight to a 12th place finish, before a tough race two in the competitive midfield battles culminated in a result of 15th overall. Jack McCarthy meanwhile joined Gamble in making two visits to the Silverstone podium on race day. After a tricky qualifying session, he produced a great drive in the opening race to adapt to the changing conditions on slick rubber and come home second in the Pro Am class. The Kent racer continued his impressive maiden Carrera Cup GB campaign with another brilliant drive in race two. Battling hard with a number of his class rivals, the 19 year old took the chequered flag in third to make it 11 Pro Am podiums in 14 races this season. The team’s five car entry for Silverstone was completed by Am class entrant Fraser Robertson. On his second outing of the season, the Scotsman put in strong performances in the tricky conditions to pick up a pair of top five class finishes. After the weekend’s action, Gamble has moved up to second in the championship standings heading into the season finale at Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time (12/13 October), while McCarthy heads to his home event with an outside chance of title success in both the Pro Am and Rookie classes. Simon Leonard – Team Boss: “What a fantastic weekend for the team. George [Gamble] drove faultlessly throughout the two races and richly deserved his two wins. We always knew the potential was there for him to dominate races like that and he showed exactly what he can do. “It’s great for the team to have Tio [Ellinas] with us for the final two rounds of the year. He turned up and immediately set the pace in testing. While qualifying and the opening race didn’t go his way, he showed his class in race two and took a deserved podium finish. “Jack [McCarthy] really impressed me over the weekend. He wasn’t happy with his one lap pace in qualifying, but come the races his consistent speed in tricky conditions served him well. Two podiums was a great result for the weekend and keeps him in the title hunt. “It was a tough weekend for Seb [Perez], but I’m sure he will bounce back strongly at Brands Hatch, while Fraser [Robertson] adapted well to the conditions and showed strong progress. We’re all excited to go racing again in two weeks’ time for the season finale.”
Image from Dan Bathie/Porsche GB.