Duckhams Yuasa Racing and Jacob Tofts secured two fourth-place Pro-Am finishes during a challenging Porsche Carrera Cup GB weekend at Croft, maintaining third position in the championship standings.

Jacob demonstrated encouraging pace during qualifying at the North Yorkshire circuit, initially running inside the top three overall and leading the Pro-Am classification. On his fourth lap, he moved to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1m 19.294s.

The session was then interrupted by a red flag, but that was the least of his worries. Unfortunately, Jacob was judged to have fallen foul of track limits, resulting in his fastest times being removed and relegating him to 13th overall and fifth in Pro-Am.

Starting the opening race in wet conditions from the penultimate row, Jacob held his position during the early exchanges before beginning to make progress through the field. He climbed to 11th and then gained another place when Max Coates spun, bringing him into a closely contested four-car battle for seventh position.

Jacob looked to capitalise when Michael Keohane attacked Olli Meadows and briefly pulled alongside on the exit of Clervaux. With limited space available, he sensibly backed out of the move and remained close behind Meadows.

He launched another attack at the Hairpin before attempting to switch back towards the inside for the first corner. Meadows defended firmly, and the pair continued side by side into the chicane, where Jacob was again denied a way through. Nevertheless, his determined drive resulted in a fourth-place Pro-Am finish.

Jacob lined up 10th overall and fourth in class for race two but endured a difficult start, dropping to 14th. He soon regained his rhythm and caught the group fighting over 10th position before passing Carl Cavers and setting off in pursuit of Meadows during the closing stages.

He gained another position when Jonathan Moore went off at Barcroft. However, a five-second time penalty ultimately left Jacob at the rear of the classified finishers, although he still claimed fourth position in Pro-Am.

The results leave Jacob third in the Pro-Am championship with 82 points as Duckhams Yuasa Racing turns its attention to the closing rounds of the season.

Jacob Tofts

G1 – 5, R1 – 4
G2 - 4, R2 - 4

Championship: 3 (82 points)

“There was a bit of confusion before qualifying, as the officials said one thing about track limits, but that proved not to be the case. As a result, a few other drivers and I had all of our laps deleted, which put us on the back foot for the whole weekend.

“The car felt really good in the first race, but it’s tough to make progress when the Masters cars have ABS in the wet. We were stuck behind those guys and caught in a bit of a train.

“I felt like we could have achieved much more, but from our starting position, we really had our hands tied behind our backs, unfortunately. Our car is really good in both the dry and the wet, but in the dry, we’re able to be quicker than the ABS cars, so we can make a bit more progress.

“Race two didn’t go much better, unfortunately. I had a good start and got alongside one of the Masters-class cars, but it was the same issue, as he could brake so much later. I was on the inside at turn one, and by the time we got to the apex, I was alongside his door and realised it wasn’t going to work. I tried to back out, but I couldn’t do so in time. I either had to hit him and spin or cut the kerb. Doing that earlier in the day was fine, but once the touring cars had gone over it, they had created such a rut that it unsettled the car and I spun.

“I caught back up to the other cars within seven or eight laps, so the pace was really good, but it was just difficult to pass. It’s so frustrating. We came away with two fourth-place finishes, which really isn’t where I want to be; we should be on the podium.”