A stunning start saw Phil Quaife fly off the grid and through the pack to claim what should have been his debut win on round six of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, clocking a fastest lap en route. After the race ended, the Clerk of the Course made the decision to penalise Quaife by two seconds for overtaking under a yellow flag, dropping him to third place. A small collision with another car saw team-mate Sam Hancock held back to eventually finish fifth. The result sees Quaife and Hancock consolidate their respective fourth and fifth positions in the point standings.

Phil Quaife put his foot down at the start and passed Tim Harvey, Charles Bateman and Michael Caine during the first lap, leaving Tim Bridgman and Quaife at the front. He remained there, despite the challenges posed by the rain, and finished the race off with a courageous move past Bridgman in the final chicane with 12 minutes to go, to take the win.

A satisfied Quaife said: I am absolutely delighted with this result – I couldn’t have asked for better! I got off to an amazing start passing three cars but a couple of laps into the race it started to rain more heavily and the safety car came out after someone went off into the gravel. For the next four or five laps it was just lethal with no grip whatsoever. We came round the track at something like 10 seconds off the pace at about 30 miles per hour in some of the quick corners – it was crazy!

“But it was humid,” he continued, “so the track dried out quite quickly. The two of us were still leading and I decided to make a demon move on him going into the last chicane; it was a bit risky but it was a gamble I was willing to take and it paid off. The car was good enough and the track dry enough to brake where I normally would in fully dry conditions, and I just made the corner. It feels fantastic to get the first win for the team – they did a fantastic job today and the car was faultless in the race and consistent, so a big thank you to the guys.”

Quaife continues: “Unfortunately, the Clerk of the Course didn’t see things that way and gave me a two second penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag. It's a real blow to receive this penalty but I respect the decision. In the heat of the moment it was really difficult to see because of the conditions, but that's racing. I'm just looking to Thruxton now, boosted by our overall performance and hoping to make amends."

Hancock also made a good start but lost a battle with third-placed Michael Caine and dropped down the order to spend the rest of the race fighting with Tim Harvey. A fight he was happy to win, however.

Hancock explains: “This should have been a fantastic result for Phil and the team; I was over the moon for them so I’m pretty disappointed with the final result. Personally I felt it was frustrating because it could have easily been both of us at the front. In the beginning we were all on slicks and it started to rain very heavily. By that time Phil and the others in front had done a great job to pull away a little bit. Then Phil and I got caught up with each other – I think I passed him for a while but then dropped back and had a full-on battle with Caine, who was typically aggressive. In the end he literally drove into the side of my car and unfortunately we dropped down the field into the clutches of Tim Harvey. So for the rest of the race I fought Harvey – he passed me once but fortunately I crossed the line in front of him.”

Jota Team Principal Sam Hignett added: “I am disappointed with the result as there was no fluke on Phil’s win at all – he totally deserved it by controlling the race and driving brilliantly. Sam should also have been right up there – he had an attempt to pass Caine, got boxed in and pushed out, but he definitely did the right thing. Both drivers did a brilliant job and to get the team of the weekend award was a great positive”

Looking forward to the next round, Hignett concludes: “Whatever the outcome, we seem to have turned a corner now. Driver and team morale has obviously been given a boost so we’re really looking forward to Thruxton.”