Harper unstoppable as he wins both Porsche races
Dan Harper continued his march towards the Porsche Carrera Cup GB title as he became the first driver this season to win both races in a weekend.
Harper edged Josh Webster to claim his fourth pole position in five meetings, but the opening race threw the curveball of a rain shower as the cars made their way to the grid. Motorbase Performance duo Lewis Plato and Dan Vaughan were joined by Tom Roche in peeling in for wet tyres and starting from the pitlane.
“It poured down so I was like, ‘Right, this is Croft all over again – get the wets on’,” said Plato, Harper’s closest challenger in the points, who sacrificed fourth on the grid.
Although only half the track – from the complex to Church – was very wet, the gamble initially looked to be paying off. Roche, whose Rob Boston Racing squad got him to the end of the pitlane first, led the trio through the field, taking the lead on lap five of 20, with Vaughan and Plato swiftly following.
But within two laps Harper had the fastest car on track as the pendulum swung back towards the slick runners. Those on wets became sitting ducks and, once back in front, the JTR man traded fastest laps with Webster before easing clear. George Gamble completed the podium, with Plato the best of those who rolled the dice in eighth.
“The first few laps especially it was quite treacherous, so it was just a matter of not going off the track,” said Harper. “I knew the guys on wets were coming pretty quickly but I knew eventually it would go the opposite way.”
Harper’s victory continued his record of winning every weekend’s higher points-paying opening race this year, but he had yet to finish better than third in a reversed-grid encounter.
That changed in what turned out to be the more straightforward race.
From row three, Webster and Harper took advantage of the early skirmishes to run first and second by lap two. They streaked clear and Harper sold Webster a dummy into Club to take the lead just after half-distance.