Wylie bags first Porsche GB winposted in OTHER20 | 09 | 2020

    SCOT ROSS WYLIE claimed his maiden Porsche Carrera Cup GB outright race victory on his début at the ultra-fast Thruxton circuit, having narrowly been denied a second podium finish of the season earlier in the day. (Related: Wylie bags first Porsche podium)

    Having started his MacConnal-Mason Gallery supported Porsche 911 GT3 from eighth place, the Dumfries driver crossed the finishing line fourth, a mere 0.315secs behind the third-placed car in the 47-mile opening race.

    In the second race of the day, Wylie made a blistering start from the outside of the front row to lead at the end of the opening lap by 1.2 secs. The 29-year-old from Thornhill extended his lead to 2.4secs until championship leader Harry King overtook Wylie at mid-distance. (Related: Wylie storms through Porsche field)

    But Wylie was back in front four-laps later when King suffered a puncture, Wylie cautiously cruising to an untroubled 4.5secs victory after 20-laps, taking great care of his tyres around the 2.36-mile track in Hampshire which he had never previously raced at in his eight-year car racing career.

    Ross-Wylie-Wins-Thruxton-1a.jpg

    “I’m delighted to finally get my first Porsche outright victory,” Wylie said. “I’d just missed out on a podium in the opening race so I was very hopeful of good pace in Race 2. I made a good start off the line, which was obviously critical, and pulled out a gap at the front until Harry (King) got into second place. He was pushing very hard and I gave him space to overtake for the lead as he was faster and I was, mindful of taking home a healthy points score even if it meant not winning.

    Ross-Wylie-Wins-Thruxton-2.jpg

    “But there is a massive need to manage tyres at this track and although I’d never raced here previously, I took advice from those who had in the respect of the abrasive nature of Thruxton’s track surface. (Related: Wylie bags class win on return)

    “Harry suffered a puncture for the second consecutive race which allowed me back in front four laps later. Josh Webster in second-place also had a puncture so I was even more careful in the closing laps to keep off the kerbs which could easily damage a tyre.

    Ross-Wylie-Wins-Thruxton-3.jpg

    “Thruxton was a bit of an eye-opener, it’s incredibly fast and unique. But I loved the experience and after my victory, it’s firmly up there as one of my favourite tracks! The In2Racing guys again provided me with a great car and I’m indebted to MacConnal-Mason Gallery for its support.”

    Ross-Wylie-Wins-Thruxton-4.jpg

    Wylie, who remains sixth in the championship standings but now only 10-points off third place, is back in action for rounds 11 & 12 at Silverstone next weekend (26-27 Sep).

    “My aim is to keep the momentum going as we head to Silverstone next weekend knowing that I still need to work on my performance in qualifying,” the Scot continued. “As I proved in Race 2, starting at the front is the key to a top result in such a closely fought one-make series.”

    Related: Wylie has a blast in McNish's Le Mans-winning Porsche

    Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/Scotcars

    Jim McGill

     

User Comments

Login or register to post comments.