Porsche Carrera Cup Donington

Friday 17th October saw the Porsche Carrera Cup move to Donington Park. Drivers began arriving as early as 5pm, many keen to do a little practice prior to the main event scheduled to start at 7pm. Qualification got underway by 7:30pm and the event ran until 10:30pm by which time our winners had collected their trophies and cracked open the bubbly.

Qualification

The Bronze class qualification saw new comer Ethan Barford take pole position with a lap time of 1:31.058 ahead of Daniel Lee with 1:31.499 and junior driver Zidane Soleman with 1:31.637. The overall spread was three and a half seconds across eleven drivers with Dean Lane turning up late and having to settle for last place without setting a time.

The Gold/Silver qualification saw  Ezekiel James (Gold) secure pole position with an impressive 1:29.515, followed by junior driver Louis Johnson (Silver) with 1:29.534 and  Eliot Tueslay (Gold) with a time of 1:29.607. Incredibly close! Twelve drivers took part and the field was spread over seven seconds, due to some of the drivers not undertaking any practice and having to learn and adapt quickly. You can no longer just rock up on the night and expect an easy win. Attending one or more race practice sessions is increasingly a requirement to be truly competitive.

Bronze Racing

The first Bronze race was won outright by pole sitter Ethan Barford, who also set a new fastest  Bronze  lap of 1:30.728. Daniel Lee took second place after ten laps of the Donington GP circuit seven seconds adrift . Nicolas Beguin took third a further nine seconds back having made up three places. The surprise result was Dean Lane, who having missed qualification, came home in fifth place overall in this his first race.

The second Bronze race was a reverse qualification grid. Ethan would start from the back and Dean Lane would start upfront. Once again Ethan proved invincible making his way through the field and finishing with a comfortable 14 second lead ahead of Nicolas Begin who came home 0.2 secs ahead of Zidane Soleman in third and Tamir Soleman in fourth.

Gold/Silver Racing

The first Gold/Silver race was won by Ezekiel James (Gold) with a new fastest lap of 1:29.726. Freddie Lane (Gold) came home in second place after qualifying in sixth. An impressive performance making up four places in ten laps and only 1.5 secs behind the leader. Third spot was secured by Jamie Snelling (Gold) who also made up two places in the race, meaning our podium positions were entirely Gold. The winner in the Silver class was Dave Smith, who came home an impressive fourth overall  ahead of Louis Johnson and Andy Madal and quite a few Gold drivers.

The second Gold/Silver Race saw Jamie Snelling take the chequered flag with a new fastest lap of 1:29.720 ahead of Ezekiel James (starting from last place)  8 seconds back. Freddie Lane came home fourth overall and third in the Gold class. Louis Johnson (Silver) was the outright Silver race winner ahead of Daniel Gallagher and Dave Smith.

As commentator for this our second Porsche Carrera Cup race night there was plenty of excitement to report from beginning to end. Jamie Snelling and Austin Pegg kindly stepped up to help commentate on a few races and provided some further entertainment for the spectators. Twenty four drivers took part and everyone drove cleanly with no need for steward’s enquiries or penalties.  

It was particularly nice to see the Abruzzi staff team come down. Ben and Evie supported Ethan Barford and Andy Madal, the two Abruzzi drivers. Ethan took home overall victory in Bronze and consequentially will be upgraded to Silver Class, while Andy Madal took 4th in Silver.

Louis Johnson took overall victory in Silver for the second time, earning himself a Gold License for his next race with Dave Smith securing second spot in class with Daniel Gallagher finishing third. Ezekiel James just pipped Jamie Snelling to take overall victory in the Gold class with Freddie Lane finishing third.

Championship racing nights here at VRROOM are always immense fun and its great to see so many drivers taking part.and such a good quality of race craft emerging as our community grows in experience.

We had several new drivers begin their race career with us at this event. Dean Lane, Allun Gamble, Alan Wileman and Samuel Flaherty-Hutchins all did incredibly well for their first outing. We hope to see them return and at the same time welcome some new drivers to the foray.

Sim racing events like the Porsche Carrera Cup are the most adrenaline fuelled experience you can enjoy at VRROOM and provide an opportunity for petrolheads and motorsport enthusiasts to compete side-by-side. Increasingly close competition battles in iconic race cars at legendary circuits.

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Championship Racing

Race Practice

We typically host one event every month with race practice available Monday-Thursday evenings. So if you are considering a race event come down and turn a few laps. This way you can see how competitive you are and which license class suits you best before committing to entering a race.

Race Practice

Team Endurance Racing

We only host a handful of Team Endurance Races each year. This is where multiple drivers share driving a car, taking it in turns to compete and switch drivers during pitstops. While there are a few established teams, yet the vast majority of competitors find team mates during Race Practice or simply rely on us to match them with equally skilled drivers. Everyone competes in 'class' to ensure beginners and seasoned professional can enjoy their time competing in endurance racing.

Team Endurance Racing