Motorbase Performance celebrated a return to the rostrum at Oulton Park, with Dan Vaughan claiming his 2nd Pro-Am class win of the season and 3rd podium during rounds 7 and 8 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship.
Vaughan set a blistering pace in qualifying with a 1:22.789 lap, dropping below the official qualifying lap record set on the 2.26mile island configuration in 2016. On course to take the Pro-Am class pole position right up until the final seconds of the session, championship rival Collingbourne snatched the number 1 spot as the flag dropped with Vaughan claiming 2nd in class, P9 overall.
A less than perfect start in race 1 with contact on the opening lap relegated the #55 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car down to 11th, but a determined fight back saw Vaughan scythe his way back up through the 22 car grid to move into P9 by the seventh tour of circuit. With less than 5 laps remaining, the A E Graphics-backed racer pushed up to take 7th, seizing 2nd in the Pro-Am class at the flag for his 3rd podium of the season.
Taking his 2nd Pro-Am class win of the year in race 2, Vaughan delivered a near faultless performance on the Cheshire circuit storming into 6th on lap 2, the 21-year-old held on to the category lead for the 15 lap sprint and was rewarded with a second weekend visit to the rostrum.
The weekend’s results have leap-frogged Vaughan into 2nd overall in the Pro-Am Championship standings – just six points behind current leader Jamie Orton – and up into 3rd place in the Rookie category. Having taken two class wins and three podiums from the last 6 rounds, the Motorbase-run apprentice is proving himself to be a real championship contender on his debut season.
“Dan did a really good job this weekend;” commented Team Principal David Bartrum. “He’s doing exactly what’s being asked of him, looking, learning and listening and it’s great to see that hard work paying off. He’s learning fast and that’s what you’ve got to do in the Porsche Carrera Cup. There’s no room for mistakes, it’s incredibly close racing, with everyone running on the same fraction of a second all the time
The Team Boss added; “To finish with a win as we go into the mid-season break is exactly what you want. “I’m really hoping that we have a chance of winning the Pro-Am title. If Dan does that in his first season then that would be an amazing result for the team. I think that he’s more than capable of doing it and if he keeps going the way he has been then there’s no reason why he shouldn’t get his hands on the target at the end of the year.”
Dan Vaughan said: “We picked up a bit of contact on the first lap in race 1 which dropped us back. The car was a bit of a handful after that so to get a 2nd out of such a poor start was a great result. It was a little frustrating as I think we could have done a bit better, but very happy to have pulled a podium back.
“Race two was a far more solid race, and we were really able to show our true pace to take the win. We’re learning all the time and it really feels like things are starting to click into place now. It’s been a great weekend. It’s all more points for the championship, and we’ve moved up to 2nd heading into the break which is what we wanted to do. We’ll just keep plugging away and banking the points, that’s how titles are won.”
The Porsche Carrera Cup GB now has an extended summer break before reconvening at Snetterton in Norfolk for rounds 9 and 10 on July 28/29.
Images courtesy of Dan Bathie