Justin Sherwood drove a dominant race in round nine of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge GB at Donington Park to convert pole position to his second race win of the season.
Sherwood was under pressure from the start from fourth placed starter Pete Smallwood as they headed in to Redgate, Smallwood was on the dirty side of the track though and would lose out to Simon Blanckley and John Ferguson. By the end of the lap championship leader James Birch had moved in to fifth place ahead of Steven Liquorish.
Lap two saw Ferguson move in to second place as he passed Blanckley while Smallwood continued to drop back as he was passed by Birch and Liquorish at the Craner Curves. The two drivers would continue their push towards the front of the race on the next lap as they overtook Blanckley to move in to third and fourth.
By lap six Sherwood had managed to build a gap of ten seconds and looked set to take the win as he continued to hammer in consistent fast laps.
Ferguson meanwhile was defending hard against the chasing Birch, while he managed to keep him back for a while the championship leader would ultimately pass him and set his sights on Sherwood. Ferguson came under attack from Liquorish immediately and it would only take one lap for the Team Parker driver to make it past, but as he made the move he gained one place and the lost another as Blanckley made it through a gap.
As the chequered flag dropped Birch had closed the gap to 7.6 seconds. “I was pleased with that and I really enjoyed it,” said Sherwood. “The car was great and everyone battling enabled me to pull a big gap. After that it was just a matter of pacing myself. That was very much my best drive of the season so far.”
Despite not getting the win Birch was still happy with the result “I’m very, very happy for the championship,” said Birch who, by finishing ahead of Liquorish, extended his lead. Blanckley held on to third place and was happy with the result a race that he described as “good but hard”.
Ferguson and Smallwood battled for fifth position until the final corner of the last lap, Smallwood managed to make the pass taking the position and demoting Ferguson to sixth. Tom Hallissey brought his Class Two car home in seventh position.