Will Aspin endured a difficult opening weekend in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Donington Park, with a bold gamble to switch to slick tyres on a drying track failing to pay off for the youngster.

Sporting a fresh new livery for the 2023 season thanks to a partnership with Attis, the teenager from Florence in Italy hoped to make a splash in his second season in the series as he remains with leading outfit Team Parker Racing.

With the margins so close right across the field and just 0.9s separating the top 16 drivers, Will put in a good lap but felt he missed out on hitting the ultimate time in the car, lining up third in the Pro-Am class and 11th overall for the opening race.

Conditions on race day were cooler and wetter than they had been through testing and qualifying, with a damp but drying track for the opening 24-lap contest. Running well, he spotted a car in the gravel and saw what he thought were the Safety Car boards being prepared, so opted to dive into the pits and switch to slick tyres.

Sadly, the Safety Car did not emerge and, with lap times around 70 seconds on the shorter National layout at Donington Park, lost a lap to the rest of the field when he emerged and began to build up heat in his tyres. Setting the fastest lap of the race by more than a second was scant consolation for Will, who would cross the line 12th of the Pro-Am competitors at the flag.

With that result also leaving him starting well down the order for race two, he knew he would have an uphill task, compounded by heavy rain falling before and during the opening laps. Despite that, Will was again rapid on track, lapping within four tenths of the race winner and scything his way through the field. Knocking on the door of the top ten overall, unfortunately he was handed a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits, crossing the line sixth in class.

Taking a philosophical stance after the contest, he will apply the knowledge of areas he felt could be improved and aim to bounce back at Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time, where he will go straight into qualifying, after sitting a school exam on the Friday.

Will Aspin

G1 – 3, R1 – 12
G2 – 12, R2 – 6

Pro-Am Championship: 7 (4 points)

“Qualifying didn't pan out the way we would have wanted it, as we just didn't really hook up the lap and that was completely my fault. It was a missed opportunity as we could have been in top five, but there's something I can take from that and learn for next time.

“We moved on to race one, where everyone was unsure if there was going to be a slick or wet race. I started on the wet and halfway through I saw the Safety Car boards come out, so I pitted. We made the tyre change, but the Safety Car didn't come out in the end, so we ended up losing a lap. Our pace was really strong on slicks, and it was an enjoyable race. I drove well, but the position and the result didn't show that.

“It was the same with race two. The result of that one was because of where we finished in race one. We were quickest at one point, so to only be half a second off Adam [Smalley] in the wet was pretty good. I'm disappointed with race two as a whole however, as it could have been a lot better, but it is what it is.

“We look forward to Brands Hatch now, where we won't be doing any Friday practice and going straight into qualifying as I am doing an exam. I think it will be a good weekend, hopefully we can have two good races, and I can have a nice break from exams.”