Eden Race Drive scored two more victories in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at the weekend (August 24/25), as Harry Foster and Will Aspin took wins at Donington Park.
The team was bolstered by the addition of Lucca Allen, joining Will Aspin and Oli White in Pro-Am, alongside Will Martin and Harry in Pro, with a test day on Tuesday and free practice on Friday helping the field get up to speed.
With rain beginning to fall ahead of qualifying on Saturday the whole grid set out on slick tyres, aiming to get in a fast lap before conditions worsened, but when an Am class driver spun, the red flags were shown with everyone having to switch to wets as they went back out again. At the end of the session, Will Martin was eighth after suffering damage and Harry fourth, while in Pro-Am Will Aspin finished third, Oli sixth, and Lucca ninth.
After another tight qualifying session with small margins between the field, it was time for the first race on Sunday. There were few overtakes during the 19-lap contest; however Harry made a pass to finish third in Pro and fourth overall, and Will Aspin finished third in Pro-Am, with Oli eighth and Lucca ninth. Will Martin took the flag fourth in Pro and fifth overall, but was given a penalty after the race, dropping him to eighth in class.
Lining up second for the partially reversed grid race two, Harry quickly put the pressure on the leader and pulled off a good move, going around the outside of Coppice and holding alongside to the chicane. From there he pulled clear, taking his second series victory and first of the season, 3.5 seconds clear at the flag. Behind, Will Martin was having a similarly strong drive, making his way through to take fourth place after gaining six places.
In Pro-Am, Will Aspin made his way into the class lead after a good start, and mixed well with Pro class cars as well as fending off pressure from the class leader behind, taking a well-earned first victory of the year, while unfortunately, Oli suffered a puncture and lost time and Lucca had to retire.
With two victories, Eden Race Drive second in the Entrants’ championship, and Will Martin only four points back in the Drivers’ standings, it was a positive weekend for the team, which will be looking to carry that form to Silverstone, over September 20-22.
Will Martin – #10 (Pro)
G1 – 8 R1 – 8
G2 – 9 R2 – 4
Championship: 2 (76 Points)
“Qualifying we found tricky, and I think we missed the window with the weather. The second set of tyres just didn’t seem to give any grip, and we had a broken car for the whole session after I had contact. We salvaged something out of it by finishing P8 in race one, which was pretty good from where we started. Unfortunately, I was given a penalty that set us back, but in the final race I was really happy with getting P4. Overall, the pace was incredible, and the car felt great.”
Harry Foster – #16 (Pro)
G1 – 4 R1 – 3
G2 – 3 R2 – 1
Championship: 6 (37 Points)
“It was a really good weekend. We were quick all the time in testing in the dry and qualified P4 in quite tricky conditions, which I was pleased with. I didn’t get the best start at all for race one and I lost a position but gained it back at the end. I had a clean getaway for race two, kept my position, and just started hunting down [Matt] Rees. He hit his splitter off, so at that point I had to bide my time and not let any of the other people behind me get past, because he was backing everyone up, but I eventually got ahead and cleared off. The car was quick all the time and the team was amazing.”
Will Aspin – #24 (Pro-Am)
G1 – 3 R1 – 3
G2 – 3 R2 – 1
Championship: 7 (35 Points)
“Winning makes me feel a lot better than I did before the weekend and builds a lot of confidence for the final few races. I am looking forward to Silverstone and building on the result, moving forwards, and moving up the grid – that’s what we have to work on.
“Overall, my aim is to get as high up as possible and get an overall podium or even a win. To be able to do that, we have to get qualifying right with everything at 100%. It feels good, we’ll work hard to make sure we’re on form and get the Pro-Am wins which will leave us as high up the order as possible.”
Oliver White – #94 (Pro-Am)
G1 – 6 R1 – 8
G2 – 8 R2 – 6
Championship: 4 (57 Points)
“Qualifying didn’t go how I would have liked it to as I went off too many times in the wet, which was a shame, so I started lower down the grid. In race one I got pushed on the grass, so I lost my splitter. In the second race the same driver cut the chicane and drove into me, which gave me a puncture. Looking at the positives, I’ve scored some points this weekend and I’ll try and build on that in the next two rounds, and hopefully get some Pro-Am wins.”
Lucca Allen – #88 (Pro-Am)
G1 – 9 R1 – 9
G2 – 9 R2 – DNF
“This weekend was quite hectic with trying to learn the car and race at the same time. Going up against these guys with so much experience is quite tricky, and when you’re a second off you end up further back because the racing is so close. The car felt quite good, and the team hooked up the car well in last race, but we got damage early on. There’s a lot of positives to take away this weekend, and we will move forward with what we have learned for the next race.”
