Job takes 40th Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB victory as Pennington is a new winner.
Sebastian Job from East Grinstead, Surrey, raced to his milestone 40th Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB victory at Snetterton, while Luke Pennington from Devon took a maiden overall win in Round Four. Job qualified on pole position and delivered a lights-to-flag win in Round Three, while Pennington started from the front in the second race and built a commanding lead as those behind battled.
In the Amateur category, Guy R Edwards from Surrey raced from the back of the grid to win the opening race on Snetterton’s longer 300 layout, while Christian Szaruta from London emerged ahead to claim category victory in an action-packed second encounter. Following the Snetterton event, William Chadwick from Wigan maintains his Pro category championship advantage with Job now sitting second. In Am, Stevens is still the driver to beat.
Job and Pennington take milestone wins in Pro Job made a successful bid for pole position in qualifying – the Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing driver started Round Three ahead of Chadwick and Charlie Collins from Monmouthshire. Job moved to defend his advantage when the lights went out and the order at the front remained unchanged. Several cars were involved in contact when the pack arrived at the Wilson hairpin for the first time, with Jamie Fluke from Leicestershire leaving the circuit before rejoining.
Overtaking proved extremely difficult at Snetterton, with little movement in the running order throughout the first half of the race. With 12 minutes of the race remaining, Pennington broke the deadlock with an attack on Jacob Tofts from Hatfield Heath in Essex, for seventh place. This allowed Isaac Price from Shropshire and Aidan Walsingham from Bath to close through the infield section of the lap. Collins gained on Chadwick for second position, and a small mistake from the latter triggered a challenge from Collins through Agostini, though their positions remained unchanged.
At the checkered flag, Job secured the 40th win of his illustrious Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB career, with Chadwick finishing in second and Collins in third. Following the race, for an incident between Jamie Fluke and Luke Pennington, 10 seconds were added to the race time of Pennington.
Pennington started from reverse grid pole position as the 2024 Am category champion sought his first Pro category victory. Alongside came Porsche Sprint Challenge GB’s Tofts, with newcomer Remy Gilbert from Buckinghamshire, and Peter Berryman from County Antrim in Northern Ireland, forming row two. Pennington led at the start of Round Four as Tofts tucked in just behind, and Berryman advanced to third. There was drama at Wilson when several drivers were delayed through contact, but Job was able to capitalise and move up to sixth.
Collins soon attacked Gilbert but his move failed, allowing Job to snatch fifth. Chadwick and Collins also swapped places, while former Porsche Esports Sprint Challenge GB champion Matt J Caruana from Berkshire was also involved. Following the intense battle, Job was left in fifth place with Caruana, Collins and Chadwick chasing. Gilbert soon repassed Berryman for third, and Job saw the same opportunity as he grabbed fourth, Berryman losing two places in quick succession. With 17 minutes of the race remaining, Gilbert closed on Tofts for second – he dived to the inside line at Agostini where there was contact at the apex, and Gilbert emerged ahead of a bruised Tofts.
In the second half of the race, Pennington enjoyed a comfortable three-second lead, with just five seconds covering Gilbert in second to Fluke back in thirteenth place. In the closing stages of Round Four, Job and Tofts engaged in an exciting battle, and this allowed Berryman and Caruana to close on them. Caruana took the chance to pass Berryman for fifth. The fight continued into the next lap, and there was further contact as Tofts defended through Riches and Wilson. Job emerged in third as Berryman snatched fifth place from Caruana.
On the last lap of the race, Chadwick overtook Collins for seventh on the Bentley Straight, with their fight lasting to the end of the lap. Several cars fought to the flag through Murrays hoping for last minute gains. However, at the front, Pennington took a maiden overall victory, with Gilbert crossing the finish line in second and Job coming home in third. However, following a post-race penalty, Tofts would be promoted to the final podium place.
Following the race, for an incident between Matt J Caruana and Remy Gilbert, two seconds were added to the race two time of Gilbert. And the same penalty was applied to the race time of Sebastian Job for contact with Peter Berryman, relegating him to a fifth place finish. Finally, Remy Gilbert received the same two second penalty for an incident with Jacob Tofts.
Edwards and Szaruta share Am glory Scott Moakes from Bedfordshire had the Am category advantage in qualifying, but at the start of Round Three he was shuffled down the order. Having qualified at the back of the grid, Edwards made a fantastic start and soon found himself heading the category, with championship leader Tom Stevens from Bedfordshire just behind. Moakes quickly began his recovery, passing James Parker from Bristol for fourth in the category, but the gap ahead to Szaruta in third proved too great to close. Edwards took category victory, joined on the virtual podium by Stevens and Szaruta.
Following the race, for an incident in qualifying between Tom Stevens and Guy R Edwards, five seconds were added to the accumulated penalty time (APT) of Edwards. And for an incident between Gordon Marshall and Kieran Harding, 10 seconds were added to the race time of Marshall. James Parker received a five-second penalty for contact with Harding, while Harding had 10 seconds added to his own race time for an incident with Dylan Freckelton.
Edwards started Round Four ahead of his category rivals on row eight of the grid, but as the positions swapped on the opening lap it was Szaruta who emerged ahead. Szaruta now led Stevens from Edwards and that is how the order remained to the flag. Following the race, Gordon Marshall had 10 seconds added to his race time for an incident with Kieran Harding.
The championship now looks ahead to Rounds Five and Six at Oulton Park’s Island circuit on 11 February. Keep up to date with Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB news via Instagram and X at @PorscheRaces_GB – users can share experiences via the hashtag #EsportsCarreraCupGB.
Championship positions:
Pro 1st - William Chadwick - 29 2nd - Sebastian Job - 23 3rd - Charlie Collins - 21
Am 1st - Tom Stevens - 36 2nd - Guy R Edwards - 27 3rd - Christian Szaruta - 24