Porsche Carrera Cup GB

Cammish Fights Through For Stunning Le Mans Victory

2 Mins read
Credit: Dan Bathie/Porsche

Dan Cammish stormed through from fifth position to take a dramatic last lap victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup Le Mans race, leading home a Porsche Carrera Cup GB one-two with Dino Zamparelli.

The two GB contenders had started the race in the top three behind poleman Florian Latorre, but a storming start from Zamparelli saw him snatch the lead heading into the Dunlop chicane.

Chaos reigned behind though in the massive 61 car field, with multiple incidents ending a number of drivers races, including Latorre and CCGB front-runners Lewis Plato and Tio Elllinas.

Charlie Eastwood was another to get caught up and he had to pit at the end of the first lap with a puncture, though a safety car interlude meant he could join the back of the field in P53.

The race restarted with 32 of the original 45 minutes remaining, with Cammish immediately making progress having dropped to fifth as he avoided contact with Latorre.

Moving up to fourth at the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight, Cammish then dived into third at Mulsanne corner to get behind Zamparelli, who had lost the lead to Alessio Rovera.

One lap later and Cammish repeated his move at the Mulsanne corner to dispatch his 2016 title rival for second and set his sights on the Carrera Cup France contender ahead.

Heading down the Mulsanne Straight on the next lap, Cammish used to incredible slipstreaming on show throughout the race to sweep into the race lead for the first time.

From there, the two-time CCGB champion would produce an incredible defensive display to keep Rovera, Ayhancan Guven and Zamparelli at bay …. that was until the final lap.

After surviving a wild slide on the exit of the Porsche Curves at the end of the previous lap, a wide moment coming out of the second Mulsanne chicane allowed Rovera back into the lead.

Cammish would make amends with a sensational move around the outside into Indianapolis though, before maintaining the lead to the chequered flag to take victory.

That success has not only extended Cammish’s CCGB points lead, but also won him a full-day test in the Porsche LMP1 driving simulator at their Weissach Research and Development Centre.

Behind, Zamparelli got alongside Rovera coming out of Arnage and swept into second position overall, with Rovera completing the outright podium ahead of Guven.

Tom Oliphant produced one of the drives of the race on his way to a fifth place finish and a Carrera Cup GB podium, as he stormed through the field from sixteenth on the grid.

Picking his way through the first lap incidents to settle in seventh, a stunning move into Indianapolis with ten minutes to go saw him pass two cars to grab a top five result.

One of the drivers Oliphant passed in that move was his Redline Racing team-mate Euan McKay, who ran as high as fifth at one stage before slipping to tenth at the finish.

That was still enough to put him fourth of the CCGB finishers, matching his best ever result in the series, with the top five completed by Ross Wylie in his Slidesports machine.

Alex Martin was the last of the GB contenders in the overall top twenty, finishing sixteenth overall as he took the Pro-Am 1 victory, with Tom Wrigley in P21.

An incredible 23rd meanwhile was Eastwood after he gained no less than thirty positions following his early pitstop, with the crucial championship points keeping him second in the standings.

Justin Sherwood was second in Pro-Am 1 after finishing 27th overall, while the Pro-AM 2 victory went to Peter Kyle-Henney, who finished up in P31 with In2 Racing.

Full race results can be found here: http://tsl-timing.com/file/?f=TOCA/2017/172403por.pdf

Provisional Championship Standings: 1. Dan Cammish (132pts); 2. Charlie Eastwood (109pts); 3. Dino Zamparelli (96pts); 4. Tom Oliphant (89pts); 5. Euan McKay (75pts); 6. Lewis Plato (64pts)

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Simon is an experienced journalist and PR officer, who has worked in the national motorsport paddocks for over a decade, primarily on the BTCC support package.
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