Will Martin scored two crucial points finishes to stay in the top six of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB PRO standings in-spite of a difficult weekend at Snetterton (24/25 October). After a four-week break, the 17-year-old rising star headed to the Norfolk countryside for the penultimate meeting of the 2020 Carrera Cup GB season. Martin came into the weekend with high expectations after having secured four consecutive podium finishes at the previous two race weekends at Thruxton and Silverstone. The Proceed Group backed racer had a trouble-free day of practice, despite having some wet weather running later in the day, though he wasn’t pleased at having struggled to get up to speed behind the wheel of his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machine. Qualifying on Saturday evening didn’t go according to plan either for the Richardson Racing driver as he failed to hook up a lap. As a result he would start the first of Sunday's races from tenth place. Starting the morning race determined to right the wrong from qualifying, he made a strong start in his MT Drains, Lining Division and Trenchline Utilities supported machine to move up to eighth on the first lap. He continued to pick off his rivals, getting into sixth by lap four and then taking two more places on lap seven. The Carrera Cup GB rookie pushed as hard as he could to catch the top three, but despite setting faster times than the car ahead, there weren’t enough laps left and he finished in fourth position. That result meant Martin started the second from pole position on the grid, thanks to the reverse grid draw. Determined to capitalise on his starting position, he made a good getaway off the line but it became apparent very early on that his car had a mechanical issue. Lacking the pace to stay at the front, the East Sussex racer tried his hardest to keep the chasing cars behind but started to fall back. After some valiant defending, he ended up in sixth position. At the start of the second lap, Will Martin began to fall back but still tried his hardest to keep the chasing cars behind. In the end, the East Sussex racer finished in sixth position after some valiant defending. Despite a challenging weekend, Martin remains in the championship top six ahead of the season finale, which sees him and the Richardson Racing team head back to Brands Hatch in Kent to race on the Indy circuit (14/15 November).
Will Martin: “Silverstone was a really positive race weekend for me and the Richardson Racing team and I was motivated to keep the strong run of results going at Snetterton.
“Friday practice wasn’t completely perfect from my side but it was drama free and I was motivated to make sure I put in a good performance on Saturday.
“Sadly though, qualifying wasn’t great. I struggled to put a complete lap together and couldn’t find the time to break into the top five. In the end, despite pushing as hard as I could, tenth was the best I could do in a difficult session.
“Sunday morning, I was fired up and ready to bounce back from what had been a bit of a challenging start to the weekend. I made a good start and just focused on catching and passing everyone as cleanly as possible.
“The car felt good and I was able to set some very competitive times en route to fourth in the race. Having then been picked to start the second race from pole made me feel like we got a good reward from that drive.
“My start off the line was super and I was really pleased to have kept the lead going into turn one. It didn’t last long though as a mechanical issue meant I was down on performance and I began to slip down the order.
“I could only do so much defending but was still pleased to score a sixth place finish and some decent points. I felt like we got the most out of the races considering the challenges we had.
“I’m looking forward to Brands Hatch next month. I have some great memories racing on the Indy circuit there and I believe we can end the season in a strong manner.”
Image from Dan Bathie / Porsche GB.