Esmee Hawkey enjoyed a weekend of action in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Silverstone last weekend.

Despite not quite achieving the results she’d hoped for ahead of the racing, she battled with the fastest Pro Ams and some of the Pro drivers during both 28-lap contests.

Unable to unlock the potential of new tyres in qualifying as she came across slower traffic on her early runs, the Kent-based racer had to settle for fifth on the grid for race one and was further baulked by a slow start for GT Marques teammate Tom Jackson.

Making the best of things after that she climbed to third in Pro Am and looked set for a podium finish before her tyres lost performance and she was passed in the closing stages, unable to effectively defend her position. A locked wheel in race two hampered the performance of her Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, meaning she wasn’t able to catch the podium positions before the end of the race.

Speaking after the weekend, Hawkey said: “Free practice was difficult. We had to find some time and were struggling with pace which I think was to do with the lines and getting those right. In FP2 I changed the lines and got the time I needed. We were as quick as everyone in Pro Am which was looking promising for the weekend.

“We hadn’t done a new tyre run at that point, so it was going to be interesting to see what we could do in qualifying, but it didn’t go as I’d have liked with traffic on my quickest laps, so they didn’t quite come. By the time we got clear track the best of the tyre had gone which was a shame. We were looking forward to the race as the pace was in the car.

“I lost a place at the start of race one as Tom Jackson stalled in front of me, so I had to get past Peter Kyle-Henney and then there was a collision between Seb Perez and Jamie Orton which promoted me to third in Pro Am. I managed to hold that place for most of the race which looked promising, but the car and the tyres went off and Perez caught and passed me. I then locked up and Justin Sherwood also nicked a place off me, so I ended up finishing fifth.

“I started well in race two and passed Jackson but on the second lap I went for a move on Sherwood but didn’t quite have the heat in the tyres, so I locked a wheel which dropped me back behind Tom again. I managed to pass Sherwood a bit later on, but it was too late and the others had pulled away, plus with the flat spot I couldn’t get the times that were in the car, so I missed out on the podium. It’s a shame as the performance of the car was strong but overall it was a fun weekend.

“I’m looking forward to my home circuit at Brands Hatch; you don’t get to run on the Grand Prix circuit too often. I haven’t been around the full circuit for a good two years, but I’ve always enjoyed it and it’ll be a good challenge in the Carrera Cup car.”