Perez makes it a double on home track
MOTOR SPORT PAUL HORTON
MACCLESFIELD’S Amigos Team Parker racing ace Seb Perez showed how it was done when he travelled to Oulton Park in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship.
The 18 year old took an impressive victory in race one in the Pro Am title at local circuit Oulton Park, and his third win of the season was complemented by yet another podium spot in race two, taking third place after an intense battle for the lead, meaning he leaves the Cheshire circuit just seven points shy of the championship lead.
Last month Perez made a double win too at the legendry Monza GP Circuit in Italy and headed to Oulton Park with one thing on his mind – to win.
In Fridays free practice sessions Perez struggled to find an ideal set up for the Amigos Team Parker Porsche 911 GT3 race car and qualified 11th, fourth fastest ProAm driver on the grid for race one on Saturday afternoon.
After a fantastic start he put pressure on the three Pro AM drivers ahead of him dropping into third place in the opening stages of the 18 lap race.
Perez was in a prime position waiting for the two leading contenders to make a mistake on the undulating and notoriously narrow track, it wasn’t long before they got tangled up and Perez took the move into number one slot.
There he would remain to take win number three in his maiden Carrera Cup GB season.
Sunday afternoons race two saw blistering temperatures with a track temperature of around 28 degrees, this was a challenge for Perez and the other Porsche drivers and there 485hp super racers.
Perez remained cool knowing that there was another possibility of a podium starting from sixth on the grid, once the lights went to green he charged down the pack and stayed close behind team mate Nottinghamshire’s George Gamble but couldn’t hold off a charging Jamie Orton who made his move on lap 11.
Worse was to come when Perez out-braked himself at the bottom hairpin, spinning in the process.
The closing laps saw him give a fiery comeback crossing the line in third and safeguarding another podium in the process to ensure another well deserved third position in Pro AM.
After the race Perez said: “It’s been a tough weekend all round to be honest but I’m really pleased that I made the most of it, no matter what was thrown at me.
“I had a difficult race one and I didn’t have the initial pace that Id hoped for but worked hard to keep that race lead once I’d got hold of it and that can be just as hard as trying to make inroads on your position. It was certainly well earned.
“As for race two, I was disappointed with my error, so it was important to salvage something from that. It’s such a narrow circuit so overtaking is very hard here and third was as good as I could hope for in the circumstances.
“It’s been a great weekend overall and we are in a really strong position in the championship which is encouraging at this stage of the season.”
Perez left Oulton Park in third place ProAm and third place Rookie driver.