Epperstone’s race ace George Gamble encountered a tough weekend in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championships at Brands Hatch, writes Paul Horton.
It was a busy weekend for Gamble in the Rosland Gold By Century Motorsport-sponsored Porsche Carrera 911 GT3 Cup 992 race car.
The weekend saw three races taking place as it also featured the race that didn’t take place at Donington two weeks ago due to bad weather and time constraints.
Friday’s two test sessions saw Gamble take fifth in the first session and only 0.091 secs off pole and he was even faster in the second, taking third spot just 0.079secs off number one and taking some very good fastest laps in the morning.
Saturday’s qualifying saw Gamble finish in seventh, but still only 0.192secs off pole, showing how close the session was.
Saturday was finished off by the missed Donington round.
Gamble started on the second row – as determined by the Donington qualifying — and by the end of the first lap had moved up to third.
By lap three he was in second, where he stayed for the next 31 laps to take a podium place.
Sunday saw rounds three and four (Brands Hatch rounds).
The first race saw Gamble line up on the grid in eighth spot but a bad start saw him left behind on the grid.
A crash on the first lap saw the race reduced to 30 laps.
By lap 26 Gamble was up to seventh, but disaster struck on the last lap when the car coasted to a halt and he did not finish.
After the mechanical woes were identified as clutch problems, the team worked like trojans to get the car ready for the next race.
Gamble was in seventh by lap five and on the rear bumper of Rainford. After being warned for exceeding track limits, Gamble passed Rainsford to move into sixth on lap 19.
Making even more progress by lap 26 Gamble was up to fifth and then moved into fourth, where he took the flag 8.509secs off the leader and just missing out on a podium.
Gamble said: “What a rollercoaster weekend. P2 in race one and so unlucky on the last lap in race two then starting P13 and finishing fourth was a huge result to keep us in the hunt.
“Big thanks to the team and sponsors for a tough weekend in the blistering heat. Roll on Thruxton, the next round.”
