Down to the Wire

Porsche GB 2018/2019 Junior Dan Harper was leading the 2019 Porsche Carrera Cup GB championship when he arrived in North Yorkshire ahead of Rounds Five and Six. And, after two thrilling races in mixed weather conditions, the 18-year-old was still at the top of the drivers’ table by Sunday night – but that only tells part of the story. While Harper’s ‘boss’ – JTR team owner and Porsche works driver Nick Tandy – was competing at the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Porsche 911 RSR, his protegé faced a challenging weekend of racing at Croft.

After two victories and two podium finishes at Brands Hatch and Donington Park, Harper began Round Five with a dominant pole position – the fifth of his Porsche Carrera Cup GB career. The current Porsche GB Junior has come under intense pressure following the return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB of former Porsche GB Scholar and 2014 Carrera Cup GB champion Josh Webster (Team Parker Racing). Webster missed the championship’s opening weekend but made up for lost time with a pole position, victory and podium finish at Donington Park. But, in the first race at Croft, Harper produced a masterful lights-to-flag victory, with former Porsche Supercup contender Webster having to settle for second place.

The weekend’s second race was altogether more dramatic. As the grid of 460hp ‘Type 991’ 911 GT3 Cup cars completed their formation lap for Round Six – shod with slick dry-weather tyres – heavy rain began to fall. All but three drivers took to the pit lane to switch to grooved wet-weather tyres, leaving pole-sitter Seb Perez (Amigos Redline Racing), Webster and Harper to take the standing start on a wet track. The trio tentatively completed the opening laps in slippery conditions before diving into the pits to change to more appropriate tyres. The mixed-up race order and challenging conditions produced nail-biting racing, culminating in Pro/Am category runner Karl Leonard (Team Parker Racing) taking an unlikely overall victory. Webster and Harper both finished in the points, but it was Lewis Plato (Motorbase Performance) who took victory in the Pro category.

Rounds Seven and Eight took place at Oulton Park, Cheshire, Harper nailing pole position and continuing his record of winning the first race of every weekend in 2019. He was followed home by Plato and George Gamble (Amigos Redline Racing). In the reverse-grid Round Eight, Gamble took overall victory, and Harper thrilled the crowds with his attempts to overtake Plato – but it wasn’t to be. Gamble, Jamie Orton (JTR) and Plato were on the podium. Webster recorded two points-scoring finishes over the weekend. At the season’s midpoint, it’s still too close to call...