Ryan mighty! Neath driver shines on TV
WELSH racer Ryan Ratcliffe enjoyed a podium finish live in front of the television cameras over the weekend of April 23 and 24 as the 28-year-old from Neath started the 2022 defence of his Pro-am championship title in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.
Heading to Leicestershire’s Donington Park, the series celebrates its remarkable 20th season of racing this year, and had its equally notable 350th race on the Sunday morning, again supporting the British Touring Car Championship of 2022.
It debuted the latest 992-style Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in the continuingly well-supported and hard-fought series for the German sports cars.
After finishing as runner-up in 2020, Ratcliffe drove superbly last year to secure his class title, adding it to his 2013 GT4 crown in the British GT Championship.
For the year ahead the Neath man faces a stern challenge from a strong field, including his new team-mate at Team Parker Racing, Will Aspin, a Florence-born 17-year-old who has been karting since he was 11, and last year drove in the Ginetta G5 series.
The pair were closely matched during Saturday’s qualifying session, with Ratcliffe only 0.010s behind – and just one second covering the top 16 drivers on the grid.
Starting race one from fourth in Pro-am, Ratcliffe made a good start and quickly gained third place, before a spin at Mclean’s corner sent him down the order to cross the line fifth in class in race one, a 23-lapper over the fast and undulating circuit.
Throwing caution to the wind for the second race, broadcast live on ITV4, Ratcliffe made up several positions in the opening laps, running third in Pro-am.
Coming up on team-mate Aspin, however, he found it difficult to get into the right track placing to be able to gain a clear overtaking opportunity, and though the Welshman enjoyed the close battle, he was having to back off a little in the close encounter in the very fast swoops and climbs of the legendary track, settling for an opening weekend podium position and valuable championship points at the flag.
Ratcliffe said: “I had a really good start to race one and got up to third in class, so that was great from where I qualified, but I didn’t make it easy for myself with a spin. It was completely my fault, I just span coming into Mclean’s.
“Frustrated is probably the right word to use because I haven’t spun a racing car for maybe four years, so to do it when I made up good positions, in the first weekend of the year, put me on the back foot.
“The second race was good. I went into it with the attitude of having nothing to lose, and made up a lot of places in the first four laps.
“I really enjoyed it. I proved that the pace is there in my driving, and I caught Will up, but he did an awesome job keeping me behind, despite the fact that he didn’t even defend that hard – it was just the lines that he was taking on the circuit that made it hard for me to make a move.
“He’s come on really well as a driver and I think it’s going to be a fun year.
“The new 992-style car is really good fun and I love it, though it’s taking a bit of getting used to because at the end of last year I just got on top of the old car, and now it’s a whole new one again, but everyone’s in the same situation of having to get used to the characteristics of the new Porsche 992-style version of the 911 GT3 car.”
Aspin too had a difficult second race, his front aerodynamic ‘splitter’ damaged and his braking compromised, adding to the pressure from the pursuing car of his Welsh team-mate.
Another Welsh driver has also joined Team Parker, Seb Morris now a Carrera Cup 22 team driver in the Pro category. His debut was also somewhat fraught, with a puncture and flat spotting a second tyre adding to his problems, though he still managed two fifth places in the races.
Next up for Ratcliffe, who is now fourth in the championship after Donington Park with 10 points, is a visit to the short, twisty and challenging Brands Hatch Indy circuit in Kent on May 14 and 15 for rounds three and four of the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup GB campaign.
There will once again be live coverage of race two on ITV4, while the main ITV1 channel will also be broadcasting live on the Sunday as well.