GAVIN PYPER made a sparkling debut in the Porsche Michelin Carrera Cup - just two days after getting a call up to drive the high-powered Porsche 911 GT3.
The Hampshire-based Scottish driver took fifth place in the opening race and improved a position in Sunday's event - underlining his loss to the Touring Car championship in mid-season.
He was actually leading the Independents Cup for the GA Motorsport Thruxton team when lack of funds forced him to withdraw Qualifying on Saturday morning was the first opportunity for Pyper to drive the Porsche on a dry track, and he did well to qualify on the third row of the grid.
He made a good start and drove a strong race to take fifth.
Second time out he did even better, explaining: "I was running close to the leader then tried a bit of a touring car move across the chicane and found that the Porsche doesn't like kerbs like a touring car does.
"That fired me off the track and onto the grass, lost me lots of places, and the front splitter. The car wasn't quite the same after that."
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