Podium finish for Elle Davis on Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain debut

Elle Davis had an impressive debut in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain, securing a podium finish in her first event and consistently finishing in the CS Am class top five in challenging wet and dry conditions at Silverstone.

Photo credits: Porsche Sprint Challenge GB

Elle Davis made a remarkable debut in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain as the racing rookie stood on the podium in her first event. Competing with CCK Motorsport, Davis achieved a best result of third in the CS Am class while displaying excellent pace in both wet and dry conditions.

Finishing all three races inside the top-5 at Silverstone, Davis enjoyed battles with more experienced drivers and should be encouraged by her performances in her maiden race meeting.

Arriving at Silverstone as a motorsport rookie, Davis was looking for a smooth introduction as she began her Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain journey with CCK Motorsport. The British squad have a wealth of experience in Porsche competition having claimed the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain Pro-Am title with driver Charles Rainford in 2022.

Davis, meanwhile, has turned her passion for motorsport into reality by driving in the CS Am category where she would compete against a grid of more experienced drivers.

Leading up to the weekend, Davis took part in the official Porsche pre-event test which took place on Wednesday. Elle immediately showed encouraging pace as she ended the day third in the CS Am category, just four tenths of a second away from championship leader Jonathan Beeson. Carrying her speed through to the TOCA test day on Friday, Davis finished testing fourth fastest in class and in contention with the top-3 drivers.

Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with Davis targeting a strong starting position. It was a session of improvement for the CCK Motorsport driver who showed excellent pace in the final minutes of the session.

As a result, her fastest lap time of a 59.224 placed her fourth in the CS Am category, just four tenths of a second away from pole position and less than two tenths away from a front-row starting spot in class.

Conditions were significantly different for the opening race of the weekend with a heavy rain shower prior to the start leading to the drivers fitting the wet weather tyres. This would be an additional challenge for Davis in her first ever race in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain and therefore she was looking to gain experience in the challenging conditions. The CCK Motorsport driver made a clean start and dropped one position to Paul Porter to end the first lap in fifth position within the CS Am class.

Davis quickly found her feet and passed Porter on lap two, before setting a fast time to build a gap to the Team Parker Racing driver behind. Her quickest lap of the race was just one tenth of a second away from the fastest time in class to underline Elle’s fast adaptation to the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. In the early stages of the race, she ran directly behind Darrelle Wilson and was learning from her experienced rival who has won multiple races during the course of the 2024 campaign.

Although Davis began to lose touch with Wilson in the middle portion of the race, she remained consistent and held fourth position comfortably. On lap 14, a spin for Karim Sekkat ahead elevated Elle into a superb third position as the race entered the final stages. Crossing the line in third position, Davis secured a podium finish in the CS Am class in her first start with a brilliant performance in mixed conditions.

Photo credits: Porsche Sprint Challenge GB

The second race of the weekend was held on Sunday morning with conditions more treacherous than in Saturday’s opening contest. All drivers fitted the wet weather tyres and the spray was significant, particularly for the Clubsport competitors at the rear of the field.

Lining up from fourth in the CS Am class, Davis made a clean start and managed the conditions well as she fell behind Paul Porter to complete lap one in fifth position within class. In the early stages, the CCK Motorsport driver was acclimatising to conditions and improving her times while holding comfortably with her CS Am class rivals ahead.

On lap four, Davis was the fastest driver in class to once again highlight her impressive speed in her debut race meeting. After a recovering Oscar Dix moved ahead on lap five, Davis settled in behind and on lap seven, she was once again the quickest CS Am racer. During the middle portion of the race, Elle was able to maintain her position with just a little over five seconds covering the top-5 cars.

After contact from Jonathan Beeson had dropped Darrelle Wilson down the order, Wilson was now Davis’ next target and on lap 13, she was able to make an excellent move for fourth. Davis then closed in on Paul Porter for a podium position before she was caught out by conditions and had a solo spin on the exit of Luffield. Davis was able to rejoin the race and take the checkered flag in 22nd position overall, fifth position in the CS Am class.

Conditions remained challenging for the final race of the weekend with the track damp and drying slowly. As a result, there was a split decision over tyre strategy with the majority of the Clubsport drivers, including Elle, starting on the wet weather tyres.

Davis made a confident start and moved up from fifth in the CS Am class to fourth at the end of lap one as she passed Paul Porter. On lap two, Davis moved into a provisional podium position after a spin for Jonathan Beeson with the Graves Motorsport driver rejoining just behind.

Beeson was able to move ahead of the CCK Motorsport driver before the track began to dry at Silverstone. As the middle portion of the race unfolded, light rain began to fall once again with Davis’ tyre choice appearing a smart one. Her pace was extremely consistent as the race continued and this enabled her to hold fourth in the CS Am class.

Into the final stages of the race, Davis had to deal with the leading drivers in the RS Pro class making their way through and this was good experience and a situation which she dealt with maturely. Taking the checkered flag in fourth position within the CS Am class, Davis ended the weekend with another good result in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain.

Davis enjoyed an excellent debut of circuit racing competition as the rookie driver competed admirably in a more experience field of drivers. Her pace in both wet and dry conditions was superb and this was underlined by the fact she was able to stand on the podium in the CS Am class.

One round remains in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain season with Davis looking to build upon this strong start at Brands Hatch on the weekend of 5th/6th October.

Photo credits: Porsche Sprint Challenge GB