Three of the drivers who have contested the 2011 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge took up the opportunity to race in the Porsche Carrera World Cup at the famous Nurburgring circuit in Germany at the weekend, Saturday June 25^th, in an event called by enthusiasts the ‘greatest Porsche race in history’. The event brought together Carrera Cup and GT3 Cup Porsches from across Europe and Chris Harris was the first driver home, both Peter Smallwood and Steven Liquorish falling foul of first lap incidents.

Harris used his experience of the 13-mile circuit to be quickest of the trio in practice, all three going quicker as they learnt the intricacies of the long lap, though conditions and almost 100 cars on track made life far from easy.

“I wanted to go quicker,” said Harris after the session. “I did one slow lap on wets then there was mayhem in the pits. I got one lap done, but there probably a 9-minutes dead lap in the car. I’ve done a lot of laps here and it is a wicked event.”

“It was frustrating,” said second quickest Liquorish, “there were a lot of yellows out there. I took three seconds off my testing time but I could go faster.

“I went half a minute faster than in testing,” explained Smallwood. “I just kept it safe and kept on learning. It’s an amazing experience.”

In the six-lap race conditions were again wet, numerous runners being eliminated in first lap incidents, including both Liquorish and Smallwood. Harris was able to avoid the various incidents and bring his 997 GT3 safely home 59^th overall and third in the class for 2007-2009 GT3s.

“I missed all the first corner carnage,” said 2010 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Driver of the Year Smallwood, “which was the first objective. I was building pace on the first lap, but hit the brakes and the car swapped ends and went backwards into the barrier. I managed to get it back to the pits, but had to retire.”

Next Races: Rockingham, July 16^th and 17^th.

For Further Information:Paul Jurd

                                                Paul.jurd@kone.com

                                                O7713 477418