Xentek Motorsport have continued their maiden Porsche Sprint Challenge GB season with another hugely competitive performance at Croft this past weekend (29/30 July), with Danny Dwyer battling his way to a pair of fifth place finishes in class.
The championship made a welcome return to action after a lengthy 10 week break since the last rounds at Snetterton, in which Dwyer netted a brilliant class podium treble. The South Yorkshire team therefore made the short trip north to Darlington confident of challenging for more silverware.
Dwyer produced some competitive pace from the off in his Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport through Friday’s two free practice sessions, though would go on to unfortunately qualify lower than hoped on Saturday as he secured seventh and fifth in class on the grid for the opening two races.
The London based racer put in a battling drive in race one that evening. Briefly moving up to sixth in the early stages, he kept tabs with those ahead and shot up to fifth just past mid-distance, before comfortably holding that place to the chequered flag.
Pleased with the pace shown in the opener, Dwyer was feeling confident heading into Sunday’s two races – both of which were televised live on ITV4. Unfortunately the first of those didn’t last long for him though with an early incident forcing him into retirement, though a swift repair job by the Xentek team ensured the Cayman was fixed and ready for race three.
Dwyer started that one from the pitlane and it proved to be a bit of a blessing in disguise, as he managed to avoid getting caught up in any incidents through a frenetic opening few laps. From there, an intelligent drive seeing him take advantage of the chaos around him and climb up to fifth in the end.
Sarah-Jayne McKenna, Team Manager: “It’s been a rollercoaster of a meeting, with plenty of highs and lows crammed into the three days, but overall it’s been another great learning experience for us as a team and for Danny as we all continue to acclimatise to a competitive new championship.
“Danny worked hard to improve his lap times every time he took to the track and while unfortunately his tough qualifying meant he wasn’t in the mix for trophies this time around, he was matching the podium pace in the races and that’s a positive sign heading into Donington Park next.”
The 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge GB season continues in a months’ time (26/27 August) with a trip to Leicestershire for three races on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit.
Image from Porsche GB.