Brands Hatch Start for Perez in Porsche
18 year old Chesterfield motor racing ace Seb Perez is in gear for his first race of the season this weekend at Brands Hatch (7-8 April) in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship.
It will be the first outing in the championship for Perez with Team Parker Racing and his 21 year old teammate Nottinghamshire’s George Gamble in the £130,000 Amigos livered and sponsored second generation Porsche Type 991 911 GT3 cars that look absolutely stunning.
Over the past few weeks Perez has been busy testing the car at Silverstone and at local circuit Donington Park and pleased the way things have gone bearing in mind being a rookie to the car.
The first test session at Silverstone was the official media launch for the drivers and their cars and saw heavy rain conditions most of the day with very little track action during the first test session. Rains eased and saw both Perez and Gamble out still on damp tarmac in the second session of the day and both in the top 5 places and topping speeds of over 135 mph over the 1.64 mile circuit.
The later test session saw Perez complete 21 laps of the circuit and by the end of the day both drivers were in the top 10 placing of testing.
Similar weather faced them at Donington Park just over 2 weeks ago and saw Perez 3rd fastest over the 1.97 mile test with Gamble taking fastest at one stage and gain finishing in the top 10 places. Gamble finishing 4th and Perez 8th.
Both drivers have tested in Monza Italy recently, one of the circuits on the calendar later in the season
The new car and championship will be a challenge for Perez, the car is bigger and more powerful and an even more demanding championship lies ahead.
The championship has a lot to offer past Porsche Carrera Cup GB champions have progressed to such as driving for teams in the British Touring Car Championship.
For the past three seasons Perez has raced in Ginetta cars, last season saw Perez in the Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup Championship where he finished tenth overhaul. During 2015 and 2016 he competed in the Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship, finishing 10th place, taking his maiden pole position, a fastest race lap and four podiums, a first and three third places.
Perez said at the end of last season “My last three seasons with Ginetta, have been fantastic. Last year was a super tough season but of course all part of the learning process,”
A winning combination is hoped, George Gamble from Southwell Nottinghamshire is no newcomer to Perez they were teammates last season as well that saw him finish third in the Ginetta standings and was a GT5 Champion back in 2014.
Team Parker Racing have been in motorsport for many years now, they have an incredibly experienced team with lots of years in Porsche cars under their belt this should help both drivers during their first season, they are doing a great job with the cars and drivers.
Motorsport is no stranger to the Perez family, he is son of 2014 BTRDA Gold Star Rally Champion and Chesterfield businessman Steve Perez, Chairman of Chesterfield based drinks brand development business Global Brands Ltd and owner of Amigos Tequila Flavoured Beer and Kick Energy Drink Brands.
Seb has competed in many motorsports including rallying, at the wheel of a Nissan Micra rally car in the Kick Energy Junior 1000 Rally Championship. Recently over the past few weeks has been rallying in a Mk2 Ford Escort on the Rally Clásico Isla de Mallorca where he took a podium place finishing third and Father Steve piped him at the post to take second in his epic Lancia Stratos rally car
When asked about his racing career to date Perez said
“The Ginetta GT4 Supercup was a great progression from the Juniors as it offered a similar weight distribution but obviously the power increase and the slick tyres were what made the jump significant, enabling me to learn about handling additional power and getting the most out of the tyres in a qualifying run.”
He added “Porsche Carrera Cup GB offers a fantastic playing field for drivers to progress throughout their career and has turned out some of the best. I feel it is important to always progress within your career, and we all felt like Porsche was the next logical step as I also have age on my side!”
When asked about his new car he said ” The Porsche is a unique car to drive with near enough all the weight over the rear, where on paper the Ginetta is a lot more of a balanced car. The speed difference is something that just comes with time and getting the power in at the right time, but the handling aspects of the car are something more unique. You almost drive the car as if you are in the wet. Stop it, turn it, go. As it won’t carry the corner speed like the Ginetta so to extract the time out of the car over a lap is going to be interesting.”
He added “ I am in the Pro-Am class of the series, as I can have a true season of learning but still get some trophies on the way. My main goal will be to win Pro-Am class.”
The Championship is ran over 8 race weekends and is a support to the ever popular Dunlop British Touring Car Championship. After the action this weekend, its followed by the local round at Donington Park on 28th and 29th April.
