Redline Racing picked up their 12th podium finish of the 2020 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season so far this past weekend (26/27 September), with Matty Graham scoring a brilliant second place result at Silverstone. The sixth meeting of the 2020 Carrera Cup GB season took the Teeside squad to the ‘Home of British Motor Racing’, with their ever-present trio of drivers, Matty Graham, Scott McKenna and John Ferguson being joined by the returning Dorian Mansilla and series debutant Dario Giustozzi. Graham and McKenna kicked off the meeting in perfect fashion in their Eighty-One Powerdrink backed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars as finished one-two in free practice on Friday. It didn’t quite go their way in qualifying the next day however, with Graham fifth and McKenna down in ninth. The opening race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon proved to be a relatively subdued affair. Graham ran in the top six throughout as he recorded a fifth place finish, while McKenna made up some ground through the race to follow his team-mate home in sixth. For the sixth meeting in succession, the reverse grid draw placed a Redline Racing car on pole position for race two. This time round it was Graham and he converted that advantage into the race lead through the first 18 laps in front of the live ITV2 television cameras. Unfortunately a moment under braking caused him to lose the lead though, but he maintained second to the finish for his third trip to the podium this season. McKenna meanwhile lost ground during a busy opening lap, but fought back to seventh at the finish. Making a welcome return to the grid after missing the visit to Thruxton a week prior, Mansilla put in a strong display at Silverstone. Qualifying tenth of the Pro class drivers, he improved his pace throughout the two races on his way to a pair of top ten class finishes. Fellow Argentinian racer Giustozzi produced an impressive debut performance. Sixth quickest in the Am class in qualifying, a great opening race saw him pick up a couple of places to finish fourth, which he duly followed up with sixth in the final encounter. One week on from a memorable double Am class victory at Thruxton, it was a tough weekend for Ferguson this time around. The Irishman was caught up in an early incident in race one, with the damage caused to his car ruling him out of race two. Simon Leonard – Team Boss: “After suffering some terrible luck last weekend at Thruxton, we’re delighted that Matty [Graham] was able to bounce back strongly this time out and make a richly deserved return to the podium. "Scott [McKenna] pushed hard throughout the weekend but sadly the results didn't quite go his way. I’m sure he’ll be back in the podium battles at Snetterton. Dorian [Mansilla] did a great job on his return to the grid and scored some solid finishes. “It was a tough weekend for John [Ferguson] and that was a real shame after such a high at Thruxton, while it was fantastic to welcome Dario [Giustozzi] to the team for the first time and he put in a great performance on his first outing in such a competitive series.” The Porsche Carrera Cup GB is now heading into its penultimate meeting of the season at Snetterton in four weeks’ time (24/25 October). Prior to that, the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB will race with the BTCC for the first time at Croft (10/11 October).
Image from Dan Bathie / Porsche GB.