Pressure now off for Aspin after challenging weekend at scorching Snetterton
Will Aspin has declared that “there’s no pressure” for him in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB after an unusually difficult weekend in Norfolk (August 13/14), as the series raced under searing temperatures at Snetterton.
After Friday’s practice sessions, Will knew there was good pace in the car but that he would need to hook it up over one lap to be able to start in a representative grid position, given the close nature of the field. Sadly, under the scorching hot skies, he wasn’t able to produce one quick clean lap and was disappointed to be lining up seventh in Pro-Am and an unusual 17th overall.
Knowing he would have to make up ground in the early laps of the opening race, a longer 40-minute contest first thing on Sunday morning, the teenager enjoyed a good start and gained a few positions before the field began to settle down. Getting past team-mate and fellow Pro-Am championship rival Ryan Ratcliffe with an outbraking manoeuvre, he unfortunately also made contact with another car which left him with damage to the front right of his Porsche, causing a swift retirement from the contest.
That left Will starting at the rear of the Pro-Am runners for the second race later that afternoon, which thankfully for competitors was a shorter 20-minute affair, given air temperatures were approaching 32C, with it being even hotter inside the car. He again made early forward progress but found his pace dropping off in the second half of the contest. A torrid weekend was further compounded with a puncture towards the end of the race, meaning he pulled into the pits and wasn’t named as a classified finisher.
With the championship leader now pulling further clear from the rest of the pack, the Pro-Am title seems a tall order for Will, but he has declared that with the pressure off, he can now go out and enjoy the final few weekends of the season and try to finish as high up the order as he can.
He will next be in action with his Team Parker Racing colleagues at the high-speed Thruxton circuit in Hampshire for rounds 11 and 12 of the 2022 campaign over the weekend of August 27/28.
Will Aspin
“We made up a few places on the first and second laps but then I think I was just getting a bit too eager to go forwards. It's meant to be a waiting game, but I'm a racing driver and we're all racing drivers who are trying to get ahead of each other. It happens and we've just got to take it as a learning experience and not do it again. It's unfortunate but we have to take it on the chin and unfortunately the guy that's leading the championship has won another race, so it makes it even harder for us.
“We were just struggling with the car a bit this weekend. I couldn't keep up with Ryan [Ratcliffe] and normally we're matched on times. I don't think the car was right, in my opinion, so maybe the team can see something in the data, and then I had a puncture on the last lap, so that didn't help either. It was a pretty down weekend, but it happens. You're going to have them, and we're still learning.
“The season is not over, and it doesn't mean that Charles [Rainford - Pro-Am championship leader] has sealed it or anything. We can still win it. It will be hard, but we have to beat him and do well. There's no pressure now. We can just go out and have a lot of fun, give it everything, and see what we come out with. We'll see how it goes at Thruxton. Hopefully, it's really good to us, as it’s a home track for me as well. With any luck I can be back where we are normally and maybe even higher.”