Porsche Carrera Cup GB enters exciting twenty-first season
Porsche Carrera Cup GB, the fastest single-marque GT racing championship in the UK, enters its twenty-first season with an exciting mix of returnees and talented newcomers. The championship continues with the 503bhp 992 GT3 Cup. This season also marks the second year Carrera Cup GB 2022/2023 Junior, Adam Smalley, competes with support from Porsche. Needless to say, he’s gunning for glory. The championship will enjoy a full calendar of sixteen races spread across eight race weekends. Occupying its traditional position as part of the TOCA package (Carrera Cup GB’s home since its inception in 2003), the competition will run in support of the British Touring Car Championship at six UK venues. Drivers in three categories (Pro, Pro-Am and Am) will compete under largely unchanged regulations, with racing getting underway at the championship’s opening weekend at Donington Park on 22nd and 23rd April. All races will be broadcast live on ITV Motorsport.
Following the first two rounds, races will take place at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit (6th and 7th May), Thruxton (3rd and 4th June), Oulton Park (17th and 18th June), Knockhill (12th and 13th August), Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit (26th and 27th August), Silverstone National Circuit (23rd and 24th September) and Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit (7th and 8th October). As Porsche continues to celebrate seventyfive years of sports car manufacturing, sixty years of the iconic 911, and a return to the top category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (on the hundredth anniversary of the endurance classic), Porsche Motorsport GB will enjoy its biggest weekends to date — for the first time since its successful introduction in 2020, Porsche Sprint Challenge GB will appear alongside Carrera Cup GB. Indeed, on four occasions this year, the two one-make series will unite to race on the same roster.
ON FOUR OCCASIONS THIS YEAR, THE TWO ONE-MAKE SERIES WILL UNITE TO RACE ON THE SAME ROSTER
Carrera Cup GB’s Pro category battle will be led by the already mentioned Adam Smalley, driving for Team Parker Racing. Smalley took a victory in 2022 and finished the season an impressive second overall, but aims to mark his final year as part of the Porsche GB Junior programme with overall title glory. Hoping to stop him in his tracks comes a line-up of proven talents making their return to the championship. Gus Burton drove to two wins in 2022, demonstrating the speed and experience to challenge Smalley, while Theo Edgerton is a proven race winner equally capable of mounting a title bid. Meanwhile, reigning Pro-Am category champion, Charles Rainford, makes the step up to the Pro category for 2023. The racer from East Sussex took a maiden overall win at the 2022 season finale at Brands Hatch and will hope to carry this momentum forward into the new season. Hugo Ellis also moves up from the Pro-Am category to a full Pro campaign in 2023, while Micah Stanley marks his return, the Monegasque making the same move in 2021.
In 2018, the championship introduced reverse grids for the second race of each weekend, a feature remaining for 2023. Follow the latest Carrera Cup GB news on Instagram and Twitter by following @PorscheRaces_GB.