Following a successful return to Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton a fortnight ago, John McCullagh returned to the Redline Racing line-up for Rounds 10 and 11 of the thrilling championship at Knockhill.
Porsche Carrera Cup Round 10: Knockhill
The weekend began with a Porsche exclusive test session on Tuesday (8 Aug) followed by Free Practice on Friday (11 Aug) on the mile-long circuit north of Edinburgh. Given the undulating and physical nature of Knockhill, the free practice sessions were extremely challenging in cold and changeable weather which added and extra dimension to this outing in the 460hp Carrera GT3 Cup car.
Although the weather forecasts for qualifying had improved, the conditions had not and McCullagh began the session on full wets. With three minutes remaining, the returning Teessider was the fastest ProAm1 qualifier, but the track was drying quickly and nearest rivals Alex Martin and Justin Sherwood took an extra run on slick tyres and pipped McCullagh just before the chequered flag.
Knockhill is an extremely short and twisty circuit, which means that back markers always play a role in the outcome of a race and two-thirds the way through the race McCullagh was gaining on Sherwood when coming into traffic. Seeing an opportunity, the Redline Racing driver closed the gap to second-placed Sherwood, however, he lost ground himself after having to negotiate back markers through the chicane.
Despite his best efforts, John couldn’t reel in Sherwood in the final few laps and finished a creditable 13th overall and more importantly, third in class, the second podium in three races since my return.
