Redline Racing’s Dino Zamparelli remains the Porsche Carrera Cup GB championship leader heading into the final two meetings of the season after taking a podium finish during an emotional weekend for the team at Knockhill (25/26 August). The team were rocked by the news of the passing of one of their colleagues Hubert Eimer on Saturday. Fondly nicknamed Bear, Hubert joined Redline in 2007 and became a much loved member of the team for over a decade, with his hard work helping them win a number of titles along the way. Hubert’s number one passion in life was motorsport and the Teeside squad went on to race in his honour in Scotland, with Zamparelli providing a fitting tribute as he mastered treacherous wet conditions to take a brilliant second place finish in the opening race. The Anglo-Italian racer had got the race meeting off to a fantastic start as he finished second fastest overall during Friday practice, a result he narrowly missed out on replicating in qualifying the next day as he took third on the grid in his Nationwide Repair Centre backed Porsche. While those sessions took place in the dry, a big change in weather overnight meant that Sunday’s two races took place in torrential rain, with Zamparelli adapting well to the conditions to run third through the early stages of the race. The 25 year old then capitalised on a mistake from the driver ahead to grab second place just after mid-distance, which he maintained to the chequered flag for a great ninth podium finish of the season so far – a result that secured him third on the reverse grid for race two. In front of the live ITV4 television cameras, another impressive performance from the Bristol based driver saw him in the fight for the podium positions throughout on his way to a fourth place finish, which gives him a five point advantage atop the standings with four races remaining. Dino Zamparelli: “It’s been a good weekend overall. The conditions were horrendous for the races and it would have been easy to throw away a result, so it’s great to get another podium finish and extend the championship lead by a point heading into the final two weekends.” Zamparelli’s team-mate Fraser Robertson meanwhile was tackling his home event, with the Scotsman making huge strides forward with his pace through free practice and qualifying to put himself sixth in class on the grid for race one. It proved to be a tough pair of races for Robertson though as he tried to get to grips with the tricky conditions, with unfortunate offs in both encounters in his The Van Centre supported Porsche leading to a double retirement. The weekend was capped off with a touching moment after race two as Redline Racing boss Simon Leonard made an emotional trip onto the podium, with Porsche recognising the team’s resilience over the weekend by naming them the ‘Team of the Weekend’. Simon Leonard: “It’s been an immensely difficult weekend for everyone in the team with the news about Hubert, but the guys continued their work with the upmost professionalism and I can’t thank them enough for all their efforts and support. “On track, Dino did a fantastic job in very trying conditions. Frustratingly we didn’t quite have the pace to take the wins, but Dino richly deserved his podium in the opening race and another strong result in race two has kept him at the top of the points standings where he belongs. “It wasn’t Fraser’s weekend unfortunately when it came to the races. He showed great progression with his pace during free practice and qualifying, but sadly he got caught out by the change of weather for Sunday. “We’re going to regroup now and come back stronger in the final two rounds of the season, making sure we give Dino the best package possible to go out there and win the title, and giving Fraser the support he needs to end the year on a high.” The Porsche Carrera Cup GB is back in action in three weeks' time at Silverstone (15/16 September) for the penultimate meeting of the 2018 season.
Image from Dan Bathie/Porsche GB.