Two ‘wild card’ Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB races at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit served to heighten championship battles in both categories. Charlie Collins from Monmouthshire took a lights-to-flag overall win in Round Nine, the season’s first night race. And Collins was victorious again in the second Spanish encounter, after the winner on the road – Remy Gilbert from Buckinghamshire – was handed a post-race time penalty.

The circuit was voted for by the followers of the @PorscheRaces_GB Instagram account, to kick-start the second half of the season in style. Alongside the action in the Pro category, came two Am wins for Scott Moakes from Bedfordshire. Following the visit to Spain, Collins is now tied on points at the top of the Pro category championship standings with Sebastian Job from East Grinstead in Surrey, and William Chadwick from Wigan. Just six races remain.

Collins sets the pace in Pro
Replicating his achievement last time out at Silverstone, Collins drove to pole position on the 2.9 mile Historic circuit for the first night race of the season. When the lights went out Collins was able to defend his lead as the pack dived into the first corner, holding off Peter Berryman from County Antrim in Northern Ireland, and Job. And just behind, Chadwick overtook Aidan Walsingham from Bath for fourth.

Job soon found a route ahead of Berryman for second place, before a close fight developed between Walsingham and Matt J Caruana from Berkshire. Caruana eventually attacked, switching from the outside line to the inside line and back again, before their fight came to an end three corners later as Walsingham emerged ahead. The scrap was reignited on the final lap as Caruana and Gilbert both attempted to pass Walsingham, but the latter held his nerve to stay in front. Collins took his third win of the season, Job finished in second with Berryman in third.

Leo Gariboli from Hertfordshire started on reverse grid pole position for Round 10, with Gilbert sitting alongside. The season’s second night race was made more challenging by the arrival of rain. Gariboli and Gilbert fought for the lead in the run to the first corner, Gilbert nosed ahead but he was quickly denied by Gariboli. And the pair switched places several more times before Gariboli was confirmed as leader. Gilbert was now a close second with Chadwick in third.

Job grabbed third from Chadwick in the increasingly slippery weather conditions, and Caruana followed him through for fourth, relegating Chadwick to fifth. However, Chadwick quickly retaliated, overtaking Caruana to retake fourth. Gilbert was moving forward too, he snatched the lead from Gariboli at the first corner in a repeat of an earlier attempt. The top three was now Gilbert from Gariboli and Job. Collins soon passed Caruana for fifth, but there was contact when Job tried to leap Gariboli on the outside line at the first corner. Job left the circuit before rejoining to continue his race, and this allowed Chadwick to adopt third.

Chadwick’s reprieve was short lived, as he was soon overtaken by Collins, before the latter set after Garboli in second spot. With a good run out of the final corner, Collins got ahead of Garboli on the main straight, however, the gap to the leader was too great to close before the flag fell. Gilbert took the chequered flag first, with Collins finishing in second, and Gariboli crossing the finish line in third. However, the final order would be decided by the stewards.

Following the race, for an incident between Remy Gilbert and Leo Gariboli, two seconds was added to Gilbert’s race time, stripping him of his overall victory and handing Collins his second win of the evening. In addition, for an incident between Scott Brazier and Gordon Marshall, 15 seconds was added to the race time of Brazier.

Moakes returns to the top in Am
Kieran Harding from Norfolk was the fastest Am category driver in qualifying, but he lost out at the start of the first race in Spain. Moakes quickly raced into the category lead, with Harding relegated to second, and Guy R Edwards from Surrey in third. Championship leader, Christian Szaruta from London, suffered an issue early on, and he would later retire from the race. Moakes took his first Am win of the season, with Edwards advancing to second, and Harding finishing in third.

Moakes was ahead again at the start of the second race, with Harding in second and Edwards in third. And despite the difficulty of racing in the dark and testing wet weather conditions, the order remained the same to the flag. With his disappointing results from the visit to Barcelona-Catalunya, Szaruta has seen his championship lead cut in half to just nine points.

The championship arrives at Thruxton – the UK’s fastest circuit – on 25 March for Rounds 11 and 12. Watch Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB via Twitch at twitch.tv/porsche, and YouTube at youtube.com/racespottv. Keep up to date with Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB news via the dedicated Instagram and X feeds – @PorscheRaces_GB – and the Porsche Motorsport Hub: https://racing.porsche.com.

Championship positions:

Pro
1st - Charlie Collins - 71
2nd - Sebastian Job - 71
3rd - William Chadwick - 71

Am
1st - Christian Szaruta - 73
2nd - Guy R Edwards - 64
3rd - Scott Moakes - 54