Tough weekend for Duckhams Yuasa Racing with Redline on hot visit to Snetterton

Duckhams Yuasa Racing had a tough trip to Norfolk for rounds nine and ten of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB season, uncharacteristically finishing off the podium for the first time this year as searing weather made life difficult for teams and drivers.

Temperatures were very high on Saturday afternoon during qualifying, where the field was once again closely matched despite the lengthy three-mile lap. Adam Smalley was just 0.4s off pole position but would line up sixth on the grid, while Oliver White continued his upswing in form, just a tenth of a second off his team-mate in eighth.

On Sunday morning, Adam was stuck behind the Pro-Am car of Charles Rainford in the opening laps of the extended 40-minute race one, getting alongside but then finding himself passed again before title rival Will Martin also got ahead as both cleared Rainford. Oliver was then similarly caught behind Rainford, quickly getting past and running behind Adam.

There was a lull around 15 minutes in as two Am competitors came together, necessitating recovery of Redline Racing colleague Nigel Rice's car. When racing resumed, with 18 minutes on the clock, Martin ran wide at Nelson’s as the field raced back to the line, with Adam having no real choice but to go past, which left him with a two-place penalty from the stewards after the contest was over.

Race two was much more of a processional affair with the field running similar lap times, making overtaking quite tricky. In the main heat of the day, thankfully both Adam and Oliver had a shorter race to contend with, at 20-minutes in length as air temperatures climbed over 31C and even higher inside the car.

Both drivers matched the pace of those around them, but with such fine margins and the leaders lapping just a few tenths of a second quicker, it made forward progress virtually impossible, and they finished as they started in seventh and eighth.

Despite the disappointment and setback for Adam’s championship hopes, everyone at Duckhams Yuasa Racing with Redline is already focused on the next two rounds of the season which take place at Thruxton over the weekend of August 27/28.

Adam Smalley, #21
”It was a tough weekend. We've been a little bit off the pace, but sometimes you get weekends like that. I'm sure we'll come back stronger at Thruxton. We've got a great team behind us, so we'll pushed forward next time out.

“Rules are rules, I get that. Will [Martin] made a mistake behind the Safety Car in race one and went off on the grass, which left me in a position that I had to then pass him, as I had no option, but I got penalised for it. What do you do in that situation? Yes, I should have backed out, but that would have massively compromised my race. It is what it is. It was very frustrating. In race two we lost a splitter, so we had no grip, as when you lose a splitter on this car you lose all your front aero. That made it a tough race, and we did what we did, but we can't change it now.”

Oliver White, #2
“Qualifying went pretty well. I was really happy with my lap, but it's so close in this field that I ended up eighth. I think it was only two tenths off the second row, so it was a shame to not be higher up, but I was still happy with the lap. Snetterton is very long, so to be so close to the pace here was very positive.

“Race one was going nicely until I had a big lock up, which was my fault. For the final three quarters of the race, I was just managing the tyre, making sure it didn't burst, because there was lots of vibration. That was a shame, but it is what it is.

“This weekend is the closest I've been to the pace full stop, so that's a positive, but I'm just frustrated I made that mistake. When you think where Matty [Graham] ended up compared to me, as he finished fifth, I was ahead of him and I had that nasty lock up, which was my fault, and that just completely unravelled the first race. As soon as you're starting down in the pack it's so tough to overtake. It's frustrating really, but I'll learn from it and come back stronger.”