Andrew Rackstraw maintained his 100% Pro points scoring record in this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup GB after another fast and impressive performance at Knockhill Circuit in his Rosland Gold by Century Motorsport team Porsche Carrera 911 GT3.
However, after battling for the lead in race one, the 23-year old South African driver was hit and spun around in the second race – forcing him to fight back as best he could from the back of the field.
The Cape Town ace qualified second, a mere 0.008secs off pole with an average speed of 93.86mph around the rollercoaster 1.27-mile Scottish track, which placed him on the inside of the front row for the first of two races.
Having made a good start, Andrew held second position – and in what became a two-horse race, he closed to within 0.343secs of the race winner at the end of the 32-lap encounter; wisely choosing to secure valuable runner-up Pro points rather than risk everything with an all-or-nothing move for victory.
In the reverse grid second race, Andrew started from fifth and made a good getaway from the outside of row three and quickly moved up to fourth. Having set an early fastest lap time, Andrew was hit by the car behind approaching Taylor’s Hairpin and spun around. Having dropped to 14th, he raced back to finish 10th overall and secure seventh-place Pro points.
The result drops Andrew to second in the Pro drivers’ standings, just five points behind the leader – and with his Porsche Carrera Cup GB title challenge very much alive.
“Overall, it was another great weekend,” said Andrew.
“Qualifying was an amazing result. The car was working so well and we pulled everything together. We just missed pole, but eight-thousandths of a second is less time than it takes to sneeze, so I was happy with that!
“We had great pace in race one, especially towards the end. I closed in on the leader, but I didn’t make a fifty-fifty move as I was thinking about the championship and on this occasion I was more than happy to take second instead of risking it all.
“Starting the second race from the third row I knew what I had to do – we had great pace, but I was focused on keeping it clean and staying out of trouble. Unfortunately, a crazy move from behind, by the same driver that took me out of the race at Knockhill last year, hit and spun me around.
“It’s annoying, but it happened and I’ve moved on. I only take the positives with me, and we’ve found something in the car that gives me a lot of confidence, so I’m super excited about heading to the next round of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Donington.
“I’m confident that we’ll bounce straight back stronger than ever, and that Rosland Gold by Century Motorsport will throw everything into the next race weekend too. I’d also like to thank all my sponsors and supporters who are with us on this journey every step of the way. It really makes these tough weekends like we had at Knockhill feel an awful lot better!”
Published by: Paul Evans
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