Porsche to investigate Thruxton punctures
Porsche Carrera Cup GB organisers say they won’t rush into making a decision over whether to return to Thruxton next season after a spate of punctures in the series last weekend.
Championship leader Harry
King was worst affected as he suffered punctures while leading both races, but in the second contest fellow Team Parker Racing driver Josh Webster and Redline duo Matthew Graham and Scott Mckenna had similar trouble.
Porsche GB motorsport manager James Macnaughton confirmed investigations will be conducted by Porsche and Michelin, and no decisions have been made about next year’s calendar.
Thruxton is due to appear on the British Touring Car Championship schedule twice next year, and Porsche is set to have a presence at all 10 BTCC events, split between the Carrera Cup and its 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsportbased Sprint Challenge series.
Macnaughton said it is “too early to say” whether Carrera
Cup will be back at Thruxton in 2020, adding: “There are some easy conclusions to jump to when things like that happen but there are so many variables – not every single car had an issue.
“The track temperature was considerably higher than in the morning, even though the ambient temperature was only a couple of degrees more in the afternoon, but initial investigations have shown pressures weren’t getting sky high.
“Thruxton does have an abrasive surface but there are a lot more things to look at, like did the drivers go off or hit debris? We’re not going to jump into making any quick decisions. Whenever there’s a problem like this, we look into everything.”