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T
his is it. I gently roll the 997 GT3 Cup
into my grid slot. Have I got enough
heat in the tyres, the brakes? I hope so.
I try to calm my nerves and regulate
my breathing.
The 30-second board is raised. I stare at the
Motec dash as I dial up 6,500rpm. Five red
lights appear on the start gantry, I depress the
clutch and firmly pull the sequential gear lever
back. A large number one in the centre of the
dash and a reassuring clunk confirms I am in
gear. I gently lift the clutch and feel the rear of
the 997 squat slightly.
Then in an instant the lights go out, I drop
the clutch and the world around me becomes a
blur of noise, colour and movement as 20 GT3
Cup cars launch towards Donington Park’s first
corner. There’s little in the way of lost traction
and the acceleration is such that I’m barely
conscious of each up shift.
Throttle flat to the floor the shift lights blink
orange at over 8,000rpm and I tug the tall lever
to get an instant up shift. I’ve made a good start,
I slot between the cars from the row in front of
me, but ahead bits of bumper fly into the air.
There’s no time to worry though as the first
corner is arriving, I force my brain to remember
just how late and hard you can brake in this car.
Always a trip into the unknown, the first corner
is now complicated by the telltale sign of coolant
trailing from the broken radiator of a car ahead.
Notoriously slippery, the fluid does its work and a
car rotates in the middle of Redgate – Donington’s
tightening first bend. Braking over, I’m down to
third gear and just manage to squeeze between
the spinning car and the edge of the gravel trap.
Hard on the power, I accelerate towards the
fearsome Craner Curves for the first time.
A plunging downhill left-hander, it’s taken in
fifth gear at around 206km/h (128mph in old
money) in the Cup car, but on this first lap the
wounded GT3 is trailing its fluid down the
middle of the track and now I am sandwiched
between two cars in the middle of the pack
that’s slithering in his wake. With a screen
covered in fluid, visibility is an issue and
approaching the braking area for the Old
Hairpin I fight my first taste of oversteer.
FRIGHT
CLUB
The Carrera Cup has provided some of the
closest racing in the country during 2006,
and at Donington Park we joined in.
68
GT PURELY PORSCHE