Caffeine Six by Parr Motorsport had a frustrating weekend (June 11/12) as it travelled to Snetterton in Norfolk, for rounds 9, 10, 11, and 12 of the 2022 GT Cup Championship, with its Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.
Piloted once again by Tim Creswick (Am) and Chris Dymond (Pro), the team looked in good shape after a pre-event test day, carrying that form into practice, though sadly there wasn’t a chance to make it stick in the first qualifying session on Saturday morning.
That meant Tim would line up ninth in the popular GTH class for the opening sprint race, but he would not remain there for long, quickly making up positions as he climbed to sixth position. Matching the pace of those ahead, he was unable to find a way past the cars in front, having to settle for that position as the flag fell after 25-minutes of action.
Unfortunately, the first 50-minute pit-stop race, held later that afternoon, was over at the first corner, as Tim found himself squeezed between two cars into turn one, sustaining a puncture. As he tried to bring the car back safely the tyre began to delaminate, with the flailing rubber then damaging the car, causing its retirement.
With a fresh start on Sunday, after hard work by the team to repair the car’s dampers on Saturday evening, Tim qualified in seventh for the second sprint race, albeit with his best lap of the weekend as he turned his first laps with the repairs. He battled up to fifth in class but lost some momentum while mixing with a rival, slipping back to sixth, where he would finish.
Heading into the final race, another 50-minute pit-stop affair, Tim had to check up as the lights went out as cars in front braked, but quickly fought back to regain seventh in class which became sixth with a good pass before the mid-race pit stops. Handing over to Chris, who finally completed his first racing laps of the weekend, progress was difficult as the car’s performance seemed to drop off, meaning he wasn’t able to gain any more positions as he ran to the flag.
Tim and Chris will be back in action with Caffeine Six by Parr Motorsport as the GT Cup Championship undertakes a quick one-day meeting at Oulton Park at the start of July, where the racing will come thick and fast.
Results
G1 – 9, R1 – 6
G2 – 8, R2 – DNF
G3 – 7, R3 – 6
G4 – 7, R4 – 6
GTH Championship: 11 (46 points)
Tim Creswick, Am
“I think this was a frustrating weekend, and we seem to have had a balance of frustrating weekends followed by good ones. It was really tough on Saturday afternoon, going out fully amped up ready for a race and then having it ended after turn one. The guys did an amazing job to get the car back out on Sunday and Chris took practice, so I hadn’t driven on the replaced dampers until qualifying and it felt good, but we’ve really struggled to get the speed out of it in the final race.
“I’ve had a couple of races now where I’ve found myself with a couple of seconds gap in front and behind, so I was just putting in tidy laps on my own. Both Saturday and Sunday I’ve had four race starts and that’s one of the best things for me as an Am. I really enjoy that busy start into turn one and turn two on the opening lap. It’s an opportunity where you have to think fast, and I think it feels like I maybe have a bit of an angle there like over some of the other Ams who are maybe less confident with it.”
Chris Dymond, Pro
“We had the pace, we know that from Friday’s testing and in warm up, but where it went in the final race I don’t really know. Anything I tried to do just made the car understeer, whether we were sensitive on the tyre with the track temperatures or something else. I think Tim’s performances, particularly in the sprint race yesterday, where he was right on the bumper of the of the lead gaggle, was really encouraging.
“We’re in a championship where we know we need to perform and for Tim to get in a car that could have been fundamentally very different from the day before in qualifying, was no doubt daunting for someone who has only done four race meetings, but he didn’t show it with an excellent lap. I think the focus is going to be quite intense at Oulton, but we had a good test up there recently and the pace was pretty good, so hopefully we’ll have a nice weekend and show what we did the first race here at Snetterton.”