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| Meadows leads Gelzinis at Brands Hatch - a situation that the Lithuanian driver will hope to reverse at Snetterton |
However, before the most recent race weekend at Croft, that lead was 34 points and a rare non-finish at Croft was the first stumble in Meadows’ stellar season to date. He knows well enough that it can all change in one race and the Banbury racer will want to start the second half of the season with a big haul of points.
Lithuanian racer Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing), double Croft winner Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed), Sam Tordoff (Team Parker Racing), Scholarship driver Daniel Lloyd (JD Pierce/Team Parker) and Ben Barker (Parr Motorsport) are the drivers taking the fight to Meadows, but the whole complexion of the title race could be turned on its head by the arrival of Andy Meyrick at Snetterton. With an impressive single-seater and sports car pedigree, Meyrick is now joining the Carrera Cup field and he will be quick. With five race weekends already done, Meyrick cannot challenge for the title, but he can go all out to win as many races as possible as he joins Team Parker Racing.
The Cheshire-based 26 year-old will be racing thanks to the invaluable support of Lindberg Optic Design, the Danish luxury eyewear designers and manufacturers.
“I’m genuinely really excited about this opportunity,” said Andy. “The Porsche Carrera Cup GB is a really class championship and it always produces some tight and entertaining racing. It will be tough coming in half way through the year and racing against some Porsche specialists, but I’ll give it everything I’ve got. I’m looking forward to doing some sprint racing again after the last few years in endurance racing, and it’s been a while since I raced at some of the UK circuits.
“I’m not underestimating the level of competition in these cars and this is a different arena for me: it’s good to test yourself,” said Meyrick.” Team boss Stuart Parker is excited to be adding another front-runner to his strong line-up. “Andy comes from a manufacturer background and it is fantastic to get a driver of his pedigree into the team. Our aim is to give him everything he needs to go well in the Carrera Cup.”
Former F3 racer Meyrick has raced in North America and Europe in recent years, and his most recent outing was at the 24 Hours Spa/Blancpain Endurance Series in a McLaren MP4-12C GT3.
Away from the overall title race, Ahmad Al Harthy (Redline/Oman Air) heads Pro-Am1 by a handy margin from Derek Pierce (JD Pierce/Team Parker) and Oly Mortimer (GT Marques), while Spanish racer Victor Jimenez (Redline/Oman Air) is getting quicker and quicker. Joining Pro-Am1 for the first time this weekend will be Welsh teenager Fraser O’Brien (GT Marques) and his progress will be watched with great interest.
At the mid-season point, the Pro-Am2 category is topped by local racer Will Goff (Goff Racing) from Dereham. Will made a big step up the racing ladder this season to run in the Carrera Cup and now comes his home race weekend. “Norfolk has always been home and always will be home,” he says. “My family has been here for years and years.” The family business of Goff Petroleum distributes heating oil all across the eastern counties from its base in Wymondham.
Despite Snetterton being his home track, Will says it has not been kind to him so far. “I’ve never yet done very well at Snetterton but everyone expects wonderful things because it is my home track,” he says. His category rivals are Tania Mann (sibsport performance) and Tautvydas Barstys (Juta Racing).
After qualifying at 14.00 on Saturday, round eleven will start at 10.25 on Sunday, with round twelve at 16.10. Round twelve will be broadcast live on ITV4 during the extensive BTCC programme which runs from 11.00 on Sunday.
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