The Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB championship entered the closing stages of the season on Sunday 10 April at a virtual Silverstone International circuit. Kevin Ellis Jr joined at Silverstone leading the championship points standings from rivals Graham Carroll and Sebastian Job with six races remaining on the 2022 calendar. Replicating the established format, drivers took part in a one-hour practice session, a 17-minute open qualifying session and two 25-minute races broadcast live via the Porsche Twitch channel.

Scottish driver Ellis Jr topped the timesheet in practice and qualifying though tiny margins separated him from his rivals – just 0.020 seconds covered the top three in qualifying, underlining just how fierce the competition is in professional sim racing. Ellis Jr went on to take a lights to flag victory in the weekend's first race – his fourth win of the season. Round eleven also played witness to an impressive recovery drive from Peter Berryman who lost places at the start but recovered to finish fourth.

The weekend's second race saw controversy as Josh Thompson was struck from the lead of the race by Berryman who would go on to take the flag first. Following the race, Berryman was penalised for the contact with Thompson which handed round twelve victory to Job and promoted Ellis Jr to the podium. Ellis Jr now takes an extended 16-point advantage into the penultimate weekend of the season.

Qualifying
In the weekend's one hour practice session, Ellis Jr set himself ahead of the pack with a benchmark time that was just 0.009 seconds faster than Job. Qualifying saw drivers working together, slipstreaming one another in their search for the final thousandths of a second. The first part of the session saw Ellis Jr stay at the top of the timesheets with a time of 1:03.225, Job lapping just 0.053 slower with Carroll a further 0.014 behind in third.

In the second half of the session Carroll improved to second spot – his time just 0.018 seconds away from that of Ellis Jr. Job was a further 0.002 seconds back, underlining the very close margins separating the grid of 19 cars. Ellis Jr's time was enough to secure his second pole position of 2022 for the first of the weekend's two races.

Race one
When the lights went out Berryman immediately dropped back into the pack, Ellis Jr maintaining his lead followed by Carroll and Job. Several positions switched but the order was soon settled. Berryman began his recovery drive and was rapidly up to sixth. With 20 minutes of racing remaining he began to mount a challenge on Thompson for fifth, successfully completing his move at Stowe.

A close scrap for thirteenth place developed between William Chadwick, Matt Emery, Conan Wearn and Lewis Ward. As the four cars fought for position they were joined by Leon Penn and Brandon Blakesley making it a six car train. With 15 minutes left of the timed race, Berryman overtook Sedgwick for fourth and set his sights on catching the top three of Ellis Jr, Carroll and Job. Sedgwick was soon under threat again, this time Thompson overtaking which left Sedgwick in sixth and exposed to a chasing Jamie Moone.

In the closing stages of the race Moone made his move on Sedgwick, passing up the inside at Stowe before looming large in the mirrors of Thompson. As the top four drivers moved closer together, Carroll in second felt the need to go defensive from Job but, despite the promise of action, the front runners remained in the same order until the flag. On the final lap Moone and Thompson went side-by-side at Stowe in their battle for sixth (and the reverse grid pole position that came with it), but Moone spun out leaving Thompson in the sweet spot.

Ellis Jr took the checkered flag first to secure his fourth win of the season, joined on the virtual podium by Carroll and Job with Berryman's impressive recovery drive netting him fourth. Following the race, for an incident between Emery and Moone on the final lap of the race, five seconds was added to the race time of Emery. In parallel, 45 seconds was removed from the race time of Moone.

Race two
The grid for the second race was determined by reversing the top six finishing positions from race one. Thompson and Sedgwick formed the front row with Berryman and Job behind, Carroll and Ellis Jr making up row three. At the start of the race Thompson got away cleanly though Sedgwick did not, he fell down the order as the pack diced for position – Sedgwick would ultimately lose four places on the opening lap.

Race leader Thompson survived the first five minutes of the race out front, but he soon came under attack from Berryman. As Thompson went defensive down Hanger Straight, Berryman made contact with the rear of his car forcing Thompson into a spin at Stowe while Berryman took the lead. There was further contact when Chadwick was hit by Thomas Cope, resulting in Cope spinning off the circuit. Meanwhile, a close battle for tenth developed with 18 minutes of racing remaining as Daniel J Thomas, Emery and Blair Mann squabbled for the advantage over one another.

With 15 minutes left of the timed race Job drew closer to Berryman for the lead of the race as the top four drivers ran in close formation. Ellis Jr soon created an opportunity on Carroll, running to the outside of his rival at Village and staying out there for the run through The Loop to snatch third. Carroll attempted to come back at Job as they arrived at Stowe, but the move did not materialise. However, with 12 minutes of racing remaining, Job made a half move on Berryman at Vale, the resultant concertina effect allowing Ellis Jr a run at Job. There was contact between the pair and, while Job continued in second place, Ellis Jr was passed by Carroll at Club restoring the original order.

In the closing stages of the race the scene was set for a battle royale between the top four cars. Ellis Jr forced Carroll to go defensive while Job slid his GT3 Cup around as he pushed hard to catch leader Berryman. However, the four equally-matched drivers would ultimately remain in the same positions to the flag, Berryman taking his fourth win of the season and joined on the podium by Job and Carroll. Championship leader Ells Jr came home in fourth.

Following the race, for the incident between Berryman and Thompson on the second lap, 10 seconds was added to the race time of Berryman – this relegated Berryman to seventh and handed victory to Job. The top three finishers would now be formed by Job, Carroll and Ellis Jr. For an incident between Cope and Chadwick, 10 seconds was added to the race time of Chadwick.

The penultimate weekend of Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB takes place on 17 April when the championship visits the Donington Park circuit for rounds 13&14. Ellis Jr takes an extended 16 point advantage to a virtual Leicestershire with Carroll and Job still in the championship hunt. Keep up to date with Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB news via the Porsche Motorsport GB Twitter feed: twitter.com/PorscheRacesGB

Championship positions:

1st - Kevin Ellis Jr - 236
2nd - Graham Carroll - 220
3rd - Sebastian Job - 217