Esmee Hawkey had a superb return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at the weekend, as the series travelled to Thruxton in Hampshire.
The Kent racer swept the board in the Pro-Am class, taking pole position, both race wins, and a fastest lap as she vaulted into the lead of the championship.
With no time to relax after the W Series season finale at her local circuit of Brands Hatch a week earlier, Esmee showed her class despite not having raced on the UK’s fastest circuit in several years.
Things were made even trickier as the second of just two practice sessions was held under heavy rain, making it hard to build up a good knowledge of the track.
However, Esmee pulled out an excellent lap in Saturday’s 30-minute qualifying session in her GT Marques Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to take class pole ahead of title rival Karl Leonard.
With rain falling ahead of race one on Sunday morning, it was a gamble whether to stay on slick tyres or switch to wets, with several cars opting for the latter.
Those drivers quickly raced to the front of the field, but with the sun then coming out the circuit came back to the slick-shod competitors, with Esmee outperforming a number of Pro class drivers to finish an outstanding fifth overall, just 0.3s behind the car ahead, and six places ahead of the next Pro-Am driver.
With sixth being drawn on the reverse grid pole, she lined up second for race two and started well but was unlucky to be forced wide at Campbell Corner when other cars had contact, losing several positions.
Still, Esmee refused to give up and again raced competitively with Pro drivers, finishing fifth overall once more, and first in Pro-Am, rounding off an excellent weekend.
Speaking after the weekend, Hawkey said: “I finally tasted victory at Oulton Park and wanted to build on that. Coming in to Thruxton I wasn’t sure what to expect as we haven’t really been to the circuit, only in Ginetta Junior a long time ago and I’m not sure if you can count that – I’m not sure I can even remember it.
“To be in the Carrera Cup car here has been amazing, it’s really fast. It’s been a fantastic weekend; we got pole, two wins, and fastest lap, so we got the maximum points we could. I am hoping to build on it and carry it through the rest of the season.
“It was unfortunate at the start of race two because I got a good start off the line and I was hoping to stay at the front and battle with the Pro drivers, but there was a little incident around turn three and that made me have to brake and avoid it, so I lost a lot of places.
“I still had the Pro-Ams behind me though and it was great fun being up there with Pro drivers and fighting with them on track. That’s what I need to be doing so I can look at moving into the Pro class next year.
“I definitely think being in the W Series has helped me this year as a racing driver. I have so much more knowledge jumping in and out of different cars. I think I am reducing my mistakes, especially as driving in two series you need to be able to switch between cars quickly.
“At the start of the season I struggled with it but at the end of the W Series I was up at the front and qualified third at Brands Hatch. As we are nearing the end of the Carrera Cup it’s getting better and better too and we’re getting wins, so I think I have grown as a driver this season.”
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