PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB
IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN CLOSER. AFTER TWO seasons where Dan Cammish has strolled to glory, this year’s crown rested on the outcome of a battle between Charlie Eastwood and Tom Oliphant for fifth in the finale.
Right from the start of the season Cammish said the pressure was on his rivals to deliver. A record-breaking third title for the Redline driver was always going to be a tough task since he had to skip the Snetterton weekend because of a clashing Porsche Supercup event.
In the end, Cammish was unfortunate not to win again. A qualifying crash at Donington Park with Pro-am2 driver Rupert Martin, his infamous collision with Eastwood at Knockhill and a fire at Silverstone were the only events that kept him off the podium. He ended up just 18 points short.
“The last couple of years I could’ve afforded issues and DNFS and incidents, and still won with a comfortable margin,” says Cammish.
“This year I needed everything to be perfect and I knew that – and so did everyone else, and people made their decisions based on that.
“I won eight races out of 15 and only contested 13. I have been very successful over the past two years and it was a shame not to get that third title, but I don’t think I could’ve done much more.”
Instead it was over to Eastwood and Dino Zamparelli to fight for honours. Eastwood had the advantage in the early stages of the season, capitalising fully on Cammish’s Donington woes to secure two wins. After Cammish’s absence from Snetterton, Eastwood had the lead and was in a prime position to take the crown.
But Zamparelli had other ideas. While Eastwood was benefiting from the years of experience of series dominator Redline, he was settling in at a new team. Despite JTR team owner Nick Tandy’s experience in Porsches, the squad had never competed outside the singleseater field and was very much learning the ropes in the early stages of the season. Zamparelli’s exclusion from the Donington opener, owing to incorrect camber settings, was evidence of that.
But by the second half of the season the team had really found its feet. Zamparelli was coming on strong and took crucial wins at Snetterton and Silverstone to ensure there was all to play for in the Brands finale.
Ultimately a fifth and a second weren’t enough and Eastwood scraped home, after the pair tied on points, by virtue of winning four races to Zamparelli’s three.
“It’s a totally different story when you’ve got the championship on the line,” says Eastwood of the finale. “Race two didn’t go massively to plan and everything was going through my mind. You need to keep yourself on track, but I was also trying to work out what the two in front of me were doing and what was going on at the front.
“It was a bit of a relief more than anything else! But it’s great once you get over it.”
“The 2017 Carrera Cup title battle could not have been closer”