Eden Race Drive scored its 11th overall podium in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at the weekend (September 20-22), as Will Martin took third place in treacherous conditions at Silverstone.
That result means he heads to the final weekend of the season second in the standings, just two points off the lead, while the team sits in second position in the Entrant’s Championship in its first year in the series.
After testing and practice sessions in the sun, the team geared up for qualifying where rain was predicted to fall, meaning it was important for the cars to get out as quickly as possible to put in a fast lap. With conditions balancing on the edge as rain fell, Harry Foster finished seventh, Will Martin ninth, and debutant Aiden Neate 11th on his first weekend in the car. In Pro-Am, Will Aspin was third quickest and Oli White sixth.
Race one was very wet and Harry took contact, sending him into a spin which sent him to the rear of the field. Will Martin put in a strong drive, quickly climbing to third overall with a move going side-by-side through Luffield, while Harry made progress and at half distance in the 30-lap contest, recorded the fastest lap, finishing fifth.
Aiden performed well on his first race, despite the challenging conditions and limited visibility, taking the flag 11th in class, and Will Aspin was going well, up to ninth overall early on, but unfortunately, he hit standing water at Copse, recovering to seventh in class. Oli also moved forward, despite sustaining damage from contact, finishing fourth in Pro-Am.
The weather was unpredictable for the second race, which meant that last minute trye choices made a huge difference to the drivers’ races, with those on wets enjoying a big benefit. As with most of the grid, the team opted for slicks, with Harry coming into the pits early to try and recover ground on the wet rubber.
Will Martin fell back off the line but battled to sixth in the Pro class to secure vital championship points, and Aiden again drove well to avoid any drama, finishing 12th. In Pro-Am both Will Aspin and Oli found their tyres coming alive late on but would have to settle for fifth and sixth in class, respectively.
The final two races in the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season will take place on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, over the weekend of October 4-6, where Eden Race Drive will push to secure both the Drivers’ and Entrants’ titles.
Will Martin – Car #10 (Pro)
G1 – 11 (9), R1 – 3 (2)
G2 – 1 (2), R2 – 11 (6)
(Class results in brackets)
Championship: 2 (89 Points)
“Qualifying wasn’t ideal as my car wasn’t quite set up for the conditions. The team got the car spot on for the wet weather, and we just picked them off one by one, so I was really pleased with that result. The last race was a gamble for everyone, and it could have gone either way. Unfortunately, there was a little bit of drizzle midway through, and because we were on the slicks it just didn’t work out. We’re still well in the fight for the championship, sitting P2 with two rounds to go. We’re performing well as a team, we know we’re quick, so I think the final round will be good. It’s going to be tight but we’re not in the worst position.”
Harry Foster – Car #16 (Pro)
G1 – 9 (7), R1 – 7 (5)
G2 – 7 (5), R2 – 14 (9)
(Class results in brackets)
Championship: 6 (43 Points)
“We were a little bit disappointed with qualifying as I think we just overestimated the grip as there was a bit of rain in the session, so we ended up P9, but we were still in the mix. At the start of race one I got tagged around but I had amazing pace and made a load of overtakes and got back to P5 in class. In the final race, we made a call on the tyres between slicks and wets, we went for slicks and unfortunately, it was the wrong decision. I ended up pitting in the race for wets, taking a bit of a gamble, which if I’d done a lap or two earlier, it would have been fine, but I lost the position and around three seconds. It’s just one of those things and overall, it’s been fun and picked up some points along the way.”
Will Aspin – Car #24 (Pro-Am)
G1 – 13 (3), R1 – 18 (7)
G2 – 19 (7), R2 – 15 (5)
(Class results in brackets)
Championship: 7 (41 Points)
“I felt good with the car in qualifying, but we just lacked a little bit of pace in a couple of corners which was a bit of a shame, as we could have been another tenth faster, which would have put us five or six positions higher up. I had a really good launch off the line for race one and then hit some standing water at turn one, and was sent off through the gravel, which was a bit of a shame, because we were going really well. Starting 18th for the second race we took the gamble for slicks, which I think would have paid off if there wasn’t a sprinkle of rain halfway through the race, as there was heat coming into the tyres and you could feel the time was coming down and down. I don’t think it was a bad call. It was a good gamble as we didn’t really have anything to lose.”
Oliver White – Car #94 (Pro-Am)
G1 – 17 (6), R1 – 14 (4)
G2 – 14 (4), R2 – 19 (6)
Championship Points: 4 (65 Points)
“The weekend was tough to be honest. In qualifying I picked up some damage as one of the Am’s was warming his tyres and we touched on the straight, so it damaged the car, and I qualified badly. In race one I couldn’t see anything because the visibility was so bad, and then I had contact with another car which caused damage to the steering for the rest of the race. In race two, we gambled on the slicks and unfortunately, it rained about two or three laps in and was the wrong tyre to be on. I am in contention for third in the Pro-Am title, which is good, but it’s very tight now with a few other guys. I basically need a good weekend at Brands to achieve that.”
Aiden Neate – Car #57 (Pro)
G1 – 16 (11), R1 – 15 (11)
G2 – 15 (11), R2 – 22 (12)
“From the start of the weekend, it was awesome to be back in a car. It’s something I’ve been trying to do all year so massive thank you to Tŷ Nant Natural Mineral Water and Eden Race Drive for getting me back out there. We made progress through FP1 and got closer in qualifying, where we were the best we’d been. Sunday was tough in the racing, as it was my first time driving the car in the rain, but I made some good progress in race one after dropping back at the start. It was a bit of a shame to end the weekend with how we did, as we made the wrong call on the tyre, but I can’t let that affect the rest of the weekend. We will try and get back out at Brands Hatch, as that’s where I want to be.”
