PORSCHE NAMES NEXT SCHOLARS
Quintet will be assessed with one to get carr era cup funding and support
The five finalists in with a chance of becoming the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Junior driver for the next two years have been selected.
Motorsport News can reveal that the final five are Jamie Caroline, Dan Harper, George Gamble, Dean Macdonald and Esmee Hawkey.
Porsche received a record number of applications from drivers seeking to emulate 2017 Carrera Cup GB champion Charlie Eastwood – who won in 2015 – as the next Junior. These were whittled down to 12 who were interviewed earlier this month, and from those five were chosen to take part in assessments at Silverstone in November.
The eventual Junior will receive £85,000 towards their budget in 2018 and in 2019 and will benefit from a wide range of support from Porsche.
Three of the five have competed in other British Touring Car support categories this season. Caroline, 18, broke a number of records on the way to the British Formula 4 crown, while Harper, 16, was a title contender in Ginetta Junior. Gamble, 21, won the 2014 Ginetta GT5 Challenge and was a race winner in the GT4 Supercup this year. Macdonald, 16, raced a Mclaren 570S in British GT4, while Hawkey, 19, has competed in a part-season with a Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport in the GT Cup after breaking her leg in the middle of the year.
“It’s cool to be in the final and it would be good for my sponsors to stay on the TOCA package,” said Caroline, who added that the chance to improve his training with staff from the Porsche Human Performance Centre would be a key benefit. “Who wouldn’t want to race for Porsche? Porsche has been in motorsport for 60 or 70 years and it would be mega to have the title of a Porsche driver.”
Harper added: “It’s a privilege to be in the final. I never thought when I was a young boy living in Northern Ireland I would have the chance to show Porsche what I can do. It’s a massive opportunity and I need to make the most if it.”
Gamble, who returned to racing in 2017 after two years on the sidelines, said his GT4 Ginetta experience should help.
“We’ve looked at the Porsche pyramid and what that involves and it’s proven in recent years it works and that appeals to me a lot,” he said. “I see the Carrera Cup Junior programme as a way towards that.”
Macdonald is friends with Eastwood and hopes to emulate his progress.
“I find it hard to describe, it’s almost like a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said. “It’s such a prestigious award, it’s an honour to get that far.”
Hawkey added: “Porsche have been so good to me over the last two years and I just want this to continue.”
Porsche GB motorsport manager James Macnaughton said: “The number of applications we received from all around the world – almost double the number from 2015 – was incredible.
“The five finalists all have a different range of motorsport experience, but at the interview stage we were exceptionally impressed by their enthusiasm.”