Will Aspin enjoyed a positive weekend (August 5-7) in the Netherlands as he made his debut in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux at the famous TT Circuit Assen – the youngster’s first racing laps on the continent.

Building up his knowledge of the circuit through Friday’s practice sessions, Will qualified seventh for both contests, twice finishing ninth in the Pro class, albeit suffering a late puncture in race two which denied him a good result.

Aiming to make the most of a down weekend in the Carrera Cup GB, the Florence-based teenager had the chance to work closely with one of his driver coaches and Porsche expert Harry King, helping him work through data and see how the current Porsche Supercup racer achieves a level of success which has earned him victory in all but one Benelux race so far this year, as well as the 2020 GB title.

Several competitors were penalised in race one for jumping the start, though this did not affect Will who was quickly into battle with Lucas van Eijndhoven for seventh position. The Safety Car was briefly called halfway through the 30-minute contest and then Will dropped a position to Jan Lauryssen as he ran wide attacking van Eijndhoven at the restart, though he quickly regained it with a good move before ultimately yielding the position.

Sadly, in the closing minutes he slowed approaching the final chicane and, as Jaume Font attempted a move on the outside, the pair came together when Will had nowhere to go, sending him through the gravel and Font into a spin, though both recovered to finish the contest.

Getting another clean start for race two, Will ran seventh, just behind team-mate Rik Koen who was battling with Sam Dejonghe. There was an early Safety Car and, as racing resumed, Will snatched sixth from Dejonghe who then tried to get back past him, but spun out which necessitated another Safety Car.

With another strong restart, Will pressured Koen for fifth, before the Safety Car was called yet again as Font had another spin at the chicane. Restarting with one final racing lap to run, Will suffered a puncture which caused him to fall down the overall order as well as in the Pro class, a tough finish despite an assured performance.

Will is quickly back behind the wheel of his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car as the Porsche Carrera Cup GB heads to Snetterton in Norfolk this weekend, for rounds nine and ten of the season.

Will Aspin
“It was an up and down weekend, to be honest. We got the hang of the track pretty quickly and qualified P7, but we could have been higher up as we were on a lap which would have probably, until I locked up, put us P3 overall. Race one I drove well below my own standards, and we got a 30-second penalty for the contact, which was, in my opinion, a bit unfair as he tried to get around the outside of me at the chicane and it was never going to work. I wasn't able to find a rhythm, but Sunday made up for it. We were on the way to finishing a really good P6, but my front left tyre went on the last lap which we think was from a piece of debris.

“It was really useful to drive alongside Harry [King]. I enjoyed it a lot and having him as a teammate is a pleasure as he's one of the fastest people in Porsche one-make racing. To go around following him, seeing how he places the car, and going through data, means I've learned a lot and I think we've come out with more confidence and are faster on track, which was the aim of the weekend.”