Ross still in Pro-Am title hunt with two races remaining next month
Thornhill’s Ross Wylie brilliantly recorded his fifth Porsche Carrera Cup Pro-Am race victory of the season in his Glenturret 911 in the latest double-header event last weekend (24 Sep).
Wylie’s magnificent win at Silverstone, the Scotsman’s seventh podium of the year from 14-races, has thrown the Pro-Am title race wide open.
It sets up an exciting, nail-biting final, two-race event of the season at Brands Hatch next month (8 Oct). Second-placed Wylie trails the Pro-Am championship leader by 18-points with a maximum of 24pts up for grabs at the final event.
Wylie held Pro-Am “pole-position” for a time during qualifying but ultimately had to be content with a third position class start for the opening race, demoted from a front row place in the closing minutes.
Denied his sixth front row start from seven events, Ross endured an opening race of two halves which ultimately ended in disappointment. Having gambled on Silverstone’s 1.64-mile “National” circuit remaining wet, Wylie initially scythed through the field, gaining four overall places and into fifth on the opening lap, dicing for the class lead at one-third distance.
But the track quickly dried and as his wet-treaded tyres lost their grip and the ‘slick’ tyred runners gained pace, Wylie slipped down to an eventual fifth in class after 30-laps. Starting the second race from 13th on the 21-car grid in dry conditions, Ross immediately made up places after the green light. Running third in class Wylie, who missed out on fastest class lap by a mere 0.025secs, was classified a fine seventh overall and a worthy Pro-Am victor.
Ross Wylie (GB):
Age 32. Born & Lives Thornhill nr Dumfries, Scotland:
“I’m still in the championship title hunt but being realistic, I need a massive slice of luck to snatch the title at Brands but I’ll not give up fighting.
“Even though I missed out on a Pro-Am front row grid slot, I was pretty happy with the way quali went and felt that I had a good car set-up for the two races.
“But the first race, staged in mixed weather conditions, was painful to endure with all of the team’s cars opting for wet weather tyres and half the grid starting on ‘slicks’ at the start.
“In hindsight, ‘slicks’ were obviously the correct choice. After the opening laps as the track dried, I had no grip and dropped places.
“I made a good start in the second race, making up positions, and drove a good, clean race. It was good to get another victory at Silverstone especially as I had a large group of sponsor guests attending.”
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