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Championship-defining weekend ahead for top contendersPorsche Carrera Cup GB: Silverstone National, rounds thirteen and fourteen preview

As the fastest single marque GT racing championship in the UK returns to Silverstone for rounds thirteen and fourteen, four drivers and one team will be hoping for perfect weekends to seal their 2016 championship challenges.

At the head of the 24-car pack, reigning champion Dan Cammish (Redline Racing) arrives with a 44 point advantage over arch rival Dino Zamparelli (GT Marques). With a maximum of 22 points on offer per race, Cammish needs only to match Zamparelli on points across both races to establish an unassailable title lead heading into the final two rounds at Brands Hatch.

However, this may be no easy task. Last year Zamparelli shone on the 1.6 mile National circuit when he took back to back wins, his first in the series, and fastest lap for good measure. The Bristol-based driver will be looking for a return to the form that saw him dominate rounds seven and eight at Croft, although competition will be tough for both drivers with just fractions of a second separating the top ten.

One driver well placed to have a say in the championship battle is Charlie Eastwood. The Porsche GB 2016/2017 Scholar has pushed his Redline Racing team mate Cammish hard in the last four races, is closing on second spot in the championship, and is hungry to take his first win.

Not to be overlooked in his overall battle is Eastwood’s significant lead in the Rookie championship. Currently holding a 59 point advantage over nearest challenger Lewis Plato (Team Redline), Eastwood needs to ensure Plato closes the gap by no more than 15 points over the weekend to be guaranteed the title and the £50,000 prize.

With Cammish and Eastwood so well placed and their two nominated points-scorers, it comes as no surprise that Redline Racing are set to claim the Team championship. Second-placed sister outfit Team Redline, represented by impressive newcomers Tom Oliphant and Lewis Plato, will need to close the 151 point gap by more than 31 points in round 13 to deny Redline Racing the win.

Enjoying a similar position of strength is Euan McKay (IN2 Racing), the Rookie driver leading the Pro-Am1 category by 35 points from reigning Pro-Am2 champion John McCullagh (Redline Racing). After winning the category in eight of the 12 rounds so far, McKay needs a solitary point over McCullagh in round 13 to secure the 2016 Pro-Am1 championship and a Porsche 911 road car for 2017.

Running his brother close in the second part of the season with a string of consistently fast performances and a win at Snetterton has been Dan McKay (IN2 Racing), while Sean Hudspeth (Parr Motorsport) and Justin Sherwood (Team Parker Racing) have proven podium potential.

Tautvydas Barstys (Juta Racing) faces the toughest championship challenge at Silverstone in the Pro-Am2 category. With just 24 points on offer, the Lithuanian needs to outscore second-placed Peter Kyle-Henney (Parr Motorsport) by 18 points and third-placed Mark Radcliffe (Intersport Racing) by 12 points to leave as champion. All three have been battling hard all season, while Shamus Jennings (G-Cat Racing) and Iain Dockerill (Asset Advantage Racing) have both shown they can run at the front with ten podium visits between them.

On a short circuit with average speeds of over 100 mph, the grid looks set to be closer than ever. Cammish will be focused on becoming only the third driver in Porsche Carrera Cup GB history to take back to back titles, while Zamparelli will be fighting hard to keep his hopes of a maiden championship alive. In a season that has seen ever reducing margins between the drivers, rounds 13 and 14 could spring more surprises.

Live coverage of round 13 will be at 12.38 with round 14 shown at 16.30, both on Sunday 18 September on ITV4. Follow the battles at @CarreraCupGB on Twitter and @carreracupgb on Instagram.

Points standings
1. Dan Cammish Redline Racing 239
2. Dino Zamparelli GT Marques 195
3. Charlie Eastwood Redline Racing 179

88 points maximum still to be won

Pro-Am1
1. Euan McKay IN2 Racing 120
2. John McCullagh Redline Racing 85
3. Sean Hudspeth Parr Motorsport 83

48 points maximum still to be won

Pro-Am2
1. Tautvydas Barstys Juta Racing 106
2. Peter Kyle-Henney Parr Motorsport 100
3. Mark Radcliffe Intersport Racing 94

48 points maximum still to be won

Ends

For more information, please contact the Porsche press office team:

Rob Durrant	Motorsport Press Officer
E-mail	rob.durrant@porsche.co.uk
Tel	0118 925 2855
Mobile	07342 084 853
Kate Gregory	Press Office Assistant
Email	kate.gregory@porsche.co.uk
Tel	0118 916 5050
Rob Punshon	Senior Press Officer
E-mail	rob.punshon@porsche.co.uk
Tel	0118 925 2733
Mobile	07881 008 950
Nick Perry	Product Affairs Manager
Email	nick.perry@porsche.co.uk
Tel	0118 925 2721
Mobile	07775 860 291
Angus Fitton	Head of PR
Email	angus.fitton@porsche.co.uk
Tel	0118 925 2720
Mobile	07824 623 874
Press website	https://presse.porsche.de and newspress.co.uk
Press email	press@porsche.co.uk
Press Twitter	@PorscheGB @CarreraCupGB
Porsche News	newsroom.porsche.com

Editors’ Note:

Porsche can claim more than 30,000 race victories in almost every motor sports series worldwide, and while many of these successes have been achieved with immensely powerful specialist race cars like the evocative 917 and 956, the iconic 911 sports coupe is the bedrock on which the peerless racing reputation of the Stuttgart marque has been built.

The 911 demonstrates perfectly the Porsche philosophy of not only building sports cars in order to win races, but also to gain development know-how that can be incorporated into the evolution of its road cars. Successive generations of the rear-engined 911 have been honed on the race circuit since its debut in 1963, with customers benefitting from continuous improvements in key dynamic areas such as engine performance, braking and aerodynamics.

Porsche is the world's largest manufacturer of racing cars; the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car competes in the Mobil1 Supercup, the world’s fastest international one-make Championship, which supports Formula One Grands Prix. The 911 GT3 Cup also entertains spectators around the world racing in the many domestic Carrera Cup Championships in Germany, Asia, France, Italy, Japan, Scandinavia and Great Britain. The all-new GT3 R is the first step for drivers moving up to GT racing, while the 911 RSR is the standard-bearer for the Porsche Works teams in international blue riband events like Daytona and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

With a record number of overall victories, Porsche is the most successful manufacturer in Le Mans history. In 2014, Porsche returned to Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with the factory-run 919 Hybrid sports prototype race car in the top LMP1 category, and scored its first outright victory in its debut WEC season in the final race in Brazil.

The 919 Hybrid LMP1 proves the ‘downsizing’ concept in featuring a unique two-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine, supplemented by two energy recovery systems, which combined develop almost 900 hp.

Porsche scored its 17th and latest success in Le Mans last June when Britain’s Nick Tandy, New Zealand driver Earl Bamber and German F1 star Nico Hulkenberg took the chequered flag in their 919 Hybrid LMP1 after 24 hours of flat out racing. Chasing this trio across the line was the second 919 Hybrid of Brendon Hartley (New Zealand), Mark Webber (Australia) and Timo Bernhard (Germany) to deliver a 1-2 result for the Stuttgart team. This trio ultimately clinched the 2015 Drivers’ World Endurance Championship, and the WEC Manufacturers’ Championship, for Porsche.

2/9/2016